Appeals

About Appeals

The CCRA's Appeals program administers one of the Government of Canada's largest dispute resolution services. We aim to provide clients with a fair dispute resolution process respecting Canadians' fundamental right to redress in their dealings with the federal government.

We review clients' contested decisions in income tax, GST/HST, excise tax, trade administration, customs enforcement sanctions, Canada Pension Plan, and Employment Insurance cases. Clients who are not satisfied with the results of our review may appeal to the courts, or for trade administration issues, to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT).

In addition, we are responsible for co-ordinating the CCRA's Fairness Initiative, which includes the application of legislative provisions for forgiving interest and penalties to clients unable to comply with tax laws due to circumstances beyond their control. We also administer the Voluntary Disclosures Program, which allows clients to correct past errors or omissions and report without penalty their tax, duty, and tariff obligations.

As of March 31, 2003, almost $8 billion in income taxes, GST/HST, excise taxes, and customs duties were in dispute, an amount that was stable this past year. These areas are the major sources of redress claims, involving some 84,000 individuals and businesses who exercised their fundamental right to redress.

Date modified:

2003-10-29