CRA has adopted mandatory referrals from auditors to Headquarters

Comments made by Assistant Commissioner Ted Gallivan included:

• CRA’s tightening of the voluntary disclosure program was in part responsive to concerns expressed by elected officials and other stakeholders who would have preferred to scrap the program entirely.
• CRA is making more referrals to Criminal Investigations.
• CRA is less likely to go back quite a number of taxation years for taxpayers who are generally compliant and cooperative during the audit process.
• With the help of its additional funding, CRA has substantially increased its ability to detect non-compliance, and is bringing lawyers into its investigations program to give it insights from the beginning.
• CRA has decided to adopt mandatory referrals from auditors to Headquarters, so that audit teams no longer have the discretion to refer to Headquarters for help or advice: there were too many files where Headquarters was brought in too late in the process.
• The audit teams can have litigation advice on request. However, this will not stop the entire audit report from being available to taxpayers.
• In more significant matters, proposal letters now often reflect input from Justice and Finance.
• CRA is revising its procedures on when it will request and use information under s. 231. CRA is committed to being systemic and consistent, and to explain why it needs information.

Neal Armstrong. 24 May 2018 CTF Seminar - Preventing, Navigating, and Resolving Tax Disputes under “Challenges of an Evolving Tax Landscape” (Ted Gallivan).