Fact sheet

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The Fairness Initiative

The Fairness Initiative is a multi-step process that is being undertaken by Revenue Canada to get feedback from Canadians -- individuals and businesses -- on how fair the Department is when it is dealing with them, and what Revenue Canada can do to improve its fairness to Canadians.

Over the last decade, Revenue Canada undertook a number of measures to ensure fair treatment of its clients. These measures included:

• changes to the Income Tax Act, the Customs Act, and the Excise Tax Act -- known as the Fairness Provisions -- to give greater flexibility to the Department so it could, as an example, waive penalties and interest, or permit late filings;
  
  
• the Declaration of Taxpayer Rights, which set out what Canadians could expect in the way of treatment and information from Revenue Canada; and,
  
  
• the Appeals Renewal Initiative, which provides Canadians with simple, clear ways of lodging complaints and appeals regarding the way Revenue Canada deals with them.

The initial stage of the Fairness Initiative revolves around a discussion paper entitled "Ensuring Fair Customs and Revenue Administration in Canada." This document sets out what fairness initiatives have been taken, what fairness measures are in place, and poses a series of questions for each of the five general areas where fairness is applied or operates:

• rights and obligations;
• administrative processes;
• responding to concerns;
• redress procedures; and
• relief in extraordinary circumstances

The discussion paper is publicly available through Revenue Canada tax centres and tax services offices, and can be found on the Revenue Canada website:

www.rc.gc.ca, under "What's New."

The document will be sent by mail if requested by fax at (613) 954-8830, or by writing to:

Revenue Canada
Room 114, Connaught Building
555 MacKenzie Avenue
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5

With this document as a reference point, the department will consult with organizations, groups and individuals throughout the spring and early summer. The consultations will include meetings with the Department's existing advisory committees and stakeholder organizations and associations. In addition, focus group sessions with the general public and our employees will also provide valuable input into collecting and analyzing views and ideas on potential fairness actions.

Groups and individuals responding to the discussion paper are invited to provide their comments by mail or fax to the addresses listed above.

The Department will also examine best practices in the customs and revenue administrations of other countries.

The feedback generated by the consultations with the general public and with specific stakeholders will provide a good picture of how fairness is practiced by the Department, as well as identifying areas where new steps can be undertaken. Once the consultations are complete this fall and the results analyzed by the Department and the Minister, a fairness action plan will be developed and announced.

Date modified:

1998-01-01