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At your service

What if you need help?

In this guide, we use plain language to explain the most common tax situations. If you need more help after reading this guide, you can contact us or use our other services.

T.I.P.S.

For personal and general tax information, you can use our automated T.I.P.S. and T.I.P.S. Online services. For example, Info-Tax provides information on many tax topics. T.I.P.S. is available for callers within Canada and the U.S.

Internet access

Visit www.ccra.gc.ca to find information and most of our publications.

Publications

Throughout this guide, we mention forms, pamphlets, interpretation bulletins, information circulars, and other guides that give more details on specific tax topics. We will mail you some of them by late February, depending on the information on your return for 2001.

You can visit any one of our tax services offices, including the International Tax Services Office, or call 1-800-959-2221 (from Canada or the U.S.) to get any of the publications mentioned in this guide. If you are outside Canada and the U.S., call the International Tax Services Office. You can also get a copy of the General return and any of its schedules by themselves.

Before you contact us

We want to provide you with the best service possible. By being prepared in advance, you will help us serve you better. Before contacting us you should do all of the following:

• read the appropriate sections of this guide and other publications we mention in this guide;
• prepare all the details of your situation and question; and
• have on hand the working copy of your return, any related papers or receipts, a pencil, some paper, and your social insurance number (SIN).

Contacting us

The address and telephone numbers of the International Tax Services Office are listed on the back cover of this guide and on our www.ccra.gc.ca/tso Web page. For faster service, call or visit us before 10:00 a.m. or after 2:00 p.m (Eastern Time).

By phone - You can call us at the International Tax Services Office Monday to Friday (except holidays) from 8:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) year round. However, from February 17 to April 30, this has been extended to 9:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday.

In person - You can visit us at the International Tax Services Office Monday to Friday (except holidays) from 8:15 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. year round.

By fax - You can fax correspondence to us at the International Tax Services Office. However, because of the nature of facsimile services, we are not responsible for misdirected, incomplete, or illegible documents.

Getting personal tax information

Your personal information is confidential. However, you can authorize someone (such as your spouse or common-law partner) to represent you to discuss your file. See "Representatives" below. In certain cases, we give some of your information to other government bodies to administer the law. In all cases, we follow strict procedures before giving your information to anyone.

If you visit us, and ask for personal tax information, we will ask you to identify yourself. In addition, we will ask for one of the following:

• one piece of signed identification with your picture;
• two pieces of signed identification;
• your Notice of Assessment, Notice of Reassessment, or other tax documents; or
• information about the contents of your return.

If you call us, and ask for personal tax information, we will ask you to identify yourself and give information about the contents of your return. If you call before May 1, use your return for 2001. After April 30, use your return for 2002.

Representatives

You can authorize a representative (such as your spouse or common-law partner, tax preparer, or accountant) to get information on your tax matters. However, we will give information to your representative only after we are satisfied that you have authorized us in writing to do so. Your authorization will stay in effect until you cancel it.

If your representative visits us, and asks for your personal tax information, we will give this information only if we have received (or your representative provides) a completed Form T1013, Authorizing or Cancelling a Representative , (or a letter containing the same information) that you have signed. After we confirm that we have your written permission, we also will ask your representative for either of the following:

• one piece of signed identification with his or her picture; or
• two pieces of signed identification.

In addition, we will ask for either of the following:

• your Notice of Assessment, Notice of Reassessment, or other tax documents; or
• information about the contents of your return.

If your representative calls us, and asks for your personal tax information, we will give this information only if we have received a completed Form T1013 or letter that you have signed. After we confirm that we have your written permission, we also will ask your representative for

information about the contents of your return. A representative who calls before May 1 should use your return for 2001. A representative who calls after April 30 should use your return for 2002.