Information on CRA – Service Complaints

RC4420(E) Rev. 14

If you are blind or partially sighted, you can get our publications in braille, large print, or etext or MP3 by going to About multiple formats. You can also get our publications and your personalized correspondence in these formats by calling 1-800-959-8281.

Is this booklet for you?

This booklet is for you if you are not satisfied with the service provided by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Service refers to the quality and timeliness of the work performed by the CRA. A service complaint may relate to the following situations:

• undue delays;
• unclear or misleading information;
• staff behaviour; or
• mistakes, which could result from misunderstandings, omissions or oversights.

If your complaint is not related to service, see Non-service related complaints.

Your Rights

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights is a set of 16 rights confirming that the CRA will serve you with a high degree of accuracy, courtesy, professionalism, and fairness.

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights builds upon the CRA's values of professionalism, respect, integrity, and co-operation. It describes the treatment you are entitled to when dealing with the CRA.

The CRA – Service Complaints program is committed to upholding the eight rights that govern our relationship with you:

• Right 5: You have the right to be treated professionally, courteously, and fairly.
• Right 6: You have the right to complete, accurate, clear, and timely information.
• Right 9: You have the right to lodge a service complaint and to be provided with an explanation of our findings.
• Right 10: You have the right to have the costs of compliance taken into account when administering tax legislation.
• Right 11: You have the right to expect us to be accountable.
• Right 13: You have the right to expect us to publish our service standards and report annually.
• Right 14: You have the right to expect us to warn you about questionable tax schemes in a timely manner.
• Right 15: You have the right to be represented by a person of your choice.

In addition, you are entitled to receive service in the official language of your choice and to have privacy and confidentiality.

The rights outlined above are upheld through the three-step complaint process.

For more information, go to Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Our service complaint process

We are committed to treating complaints seriously, dealing with them in a fair and timely manner, and learning from them.

Step 1 – Talk to us

If you are not satisfied with the service that you have received from us, you can file a formal complaint. Before you do this, we recommend that you try to resolve the matter with the CRA employee you have been dealing with or call the telephone number that you were given.

If you are not pleased with the way your concerns are addressed, you can ask to discuss the matter with the employee's supervisor. Our staff will do their best to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction. However, if you are not satisfied with the solution you receive from our staff in Step 1, you may take your complaint to the next level of review.

Step 2 – Contact the CRA Service Complaints Program

A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction with the service provided by the CRA.

The Service Complaints Program is available to individuals and businesses. This program gives you another level of review if you are not pleased with the results from the first step of our complaint process. There is no fee to file a service-related complaint.

In Step 2 of the complaint process, you can send a formal service-related complaint in writing through the CRA Service Complaints Program. The time needed to resolve a complaint varies depending on its complexity and the number of areas involved.

We will contact you to confirm that we have received your complaint and give you a file number for your records. Your file will be assigned to a complaints officer who will liaise with the areas involved with the complaint. We will maintain regular contact with you throughout our review of your complaint and keep you informed of the status of your file and the outcome. We will also contact you if we need more information.

If you choose to bring your complaint to the attention of the CRA Service Complaints Program, complete Form RC193, Service-Related Complaint. Complaints will not be taken over the telephone or by email. Mail or fax the completed form to:

CRA – Service Complaints
National Intake Centre – Appeals Division
4695 12e avenue
Shawinigan-Sud QC  G9P 5H9
CANADA

Fax: 1-866-388-7371 (within Canada or the United States)
Fax: 819-536-0701 (outside Canada or the United States)

To avoid delays in processing your complaint, send the completed Form RC193 separately from any other tax forms, such as your income tax and benefit return.

Step 3 – Contact the Taxpayers' Ombudsman

If, after following steps 1 and 2, you are still not satisfied with our service, you can file a complaint with the Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman.

Part of the mandate of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman is to ensure that the service rights outlined in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights are upheld and respected by the CRA. For more information about the taxpayers' ombudsman and how to file a complaint, visit the Office of the Taxpayer's Ombudsman or contact them by mail, telephone, or fax.

By mail:
Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman
150 Slater Street, Suite 600
Ottawa ON  K1A 1K3
CANADA

By telephone:

• 1-866-586-3839 (within Canada or the United States)
• 613-946-2310 (outside Canada or the United States – collect calls are accepted)

By fax:

• 1-866-586-3855 (within Canada or the United States)
• 613-941-6319 (outside Canada or the United States)

For more information about the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, go to Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Non-service related complaints

If your complaint is not related to service, see the following information to determine the action you should take.

• Call the CRA at the number that appears on your notice of assessment, notice of reassessment, or ruling letter if you disagree with:
  • an assessment or reassessment;
  • a payroll assessment related to the Canada Pension Plan or the Employment Insurance Act; or
  • a ruling related to the Canada Pension Plan or the Employment Insurance Act.
• If you disagree with the explanation you have received about one of the assessments or rulings mentioned above, you may be able to file an objection:
  • online at My Account for Individuals or My Business Account, or your authorized representative can file online through Represent a Client; or
  • by sending one of the following completed forms:
    • T400A, Objection - Income Tax Act, to the Chief of Appeals at your tax services office or tax centre;
    • GST159, Notice of Objection (GST/HST), to the Chief of Appeals at your tax services office;
    • E413, Notice of Objection (Excise Tax Act), to the Chief of Appeals at your tax services office;
    • CPT 100, Appeal of a Ruling under the Canada Pension Plan and/or Employment Insurance Act (CPP/EI), to the CPP/EI appeals office located in your region or to any tax services office; or
    • CPT 101, Appeal of an Assessment under the Canada Pension Plan and/or Employment Insurance Act (CPP/EI), to the CPP/EI appeals office located in your region or to any tax services office.
• If you want to discuss your tax debts and payment, contact the Revenue Collections Division of your tax services office. You can find the address at Tax services offices and tax centres - Addresses, office hours, and fax numbers or by calling 1-800-959-8281. To discuss income tax payment arrangements, call 1-888-863-8657.
• If you want to request relief under the taxpayer relief provisions (formerly known as the fairness provisions), see Form RC4288, Request for Taxpayer Relief. For more information, go to Taxpayer Relief Provisions.
• If you have a complaint about the way the Income Tax Act or other tax legislation is written, contact the Department of Finance Canada as it is responsible for tax policy, including amendments to legislation. For more information, visit Department of Finance Canada.

Authorizing a representative

Your tax information is confidential. However, you can authorize representatives such as accountants, family members, or your employees to:

• have access and make changes to your individual or business accounts and file a service complaint on your behalf; or
• only have access to information.

Authorizing online

You can authorize a representative to have immediate online access to your personal income tax and benefit information and to your business accounts by using the:

• "Authorize my representative" at My Account for Individuals; or
• "Authorize or manage representatives" at My Business Account.

To give your representatives online access to your account(s), they must be registered with Represent a Client and provide you with their representative identifier, group identifier or business number.

By authorizing a representative online, you give your representative consent:

• for all tax years; and
• to represent you through the Represent a Client service, over the telephone, in writing, and in person.

Your representative can submit an authorization request online at Represent a Client for access to your business accounts.

Authorizing by mail

You can also authorize a representative by sending the following appropriate completed form(s) to your tax centre:

• Form T1013, Authorizing or Cancelling a Representative; or
• Form RC59, Business Consent.

By authorizing a representative by mail, you can give your representative consent:

• for a specific tax year or all tax years; and
• to represent you over the telephone, in writing, and in person; and
• to represent you through the Represent a Client service.

Managing existing authorizations

Your consent will stay in effect until you cancel it, it reaches your chosen expiry date, or we are notified of your death. You can manage authorizations for your representatives by using the online services, or by sending another completed form. You can also view a list of authorized representatives by using our online services.

Online services

My Account

Using the CRA's My Account service is a fast, easy, and secure way to access and manage your tax and benefit information online, seven days a week.

You can use either your CRA user ID and password, or the same sign-in information you use for other online services (for example, online banking) to log in to My Account.

For more information, go to My Account for Individuals.

Handling business taxes online

Save time using the CRA’s online services for businesses. You can do many things online, including:

• authorize a representative for online access to your business accounts;
• authorize the CRA to send you an email to let you know that your notice of assessment is available online, instead of getting it in the mail;
• change mailing and physical addresses, as well as the address where you keep your books and records;
• adjust a GST/HST return;
• request additional remittance vouchers;
• transfer payments and immediately view updated balances, without having to calculate interest;
• stop or restart the mailing of the GST/HST return for registrants package;
• submit account‑related enquiries and get the responses online within 10 business days;
• view mail (for example, a notice of assessment);
• view the account balance and instalment balance, including the corresponding transactions (for example, payments); and
• view answers to common enquiries using the "Enquiries service."

To register or log in to our online services, go to:

• My Business Account, if you are a business owner; or
• Represent a Client, if you are an authorized representative or employee.

For more information, go to E-Services for Businesses.

For more information

What if you need help?

If you need more information after reading this publication, go to Make a service complaint or call the general enquiries numbers listed below.

General enquiries

CRA telephone and fax numbers and addresses are listed at Contact us and in the government section of your telephone book.

Call the CRA at the following telephone numbers:

• Individuals – Call 1-800-959-8281. The CRA's automated service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Telephone agents are available Monday to Friday (except holidays) from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (local time). From mid-February to April 30, these hours are extended to 9:00 p.m. (local time), and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays (except Easter weekend).
• Businesses and self-employed individuals – Call 1-800-959-5525. The CRA's automated service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Telephone agents are available Monday to Friday (except holidays) from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (local time).

Forms and publications

To get our forms and publications, go to Forms and publications or call 1-800-959-8281 for individuals or 1-800-959-5525 for business and self-employed individuals.

Electronic mailing lists

We can notify you by email when new information on a subject of interest to you is available on our website. To subscribe to our electronic mailing lists, go to Electronic mailing lists.

Teletypewriter (TTY) users

TTY users can call 1-800-665-0354 for bilingual assistance during regular business hours.

Reprisal complaint

If you believe that you have been subject to reprisal, complete Form RC459, Reprisal Complaint. For more information about reprisal complaints, go to Reprisal Complaints.

Date modified:

2015-07-11