Remissions for Service Fees
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) offers services for Advance income tax rulings and Taxation statistical analyses and data processing on a fee-for-service basis, which are subject to the Service Fees Act.
In accordance with the Act, each of these fees is subject to achievement of stated service standards for which remissions, or partial refunds, are to be made to clients in instances where the service standards are not fully achieved.
The service standards and related policies and procedures for issuing these remissions are as follows:
Effective Date
The CRA Remissions for Service Fees policy takes effect on April 1st, 2021. This policy is effective for services provided on or after April 1st, 2021.
Payment of remissions
- Role of the fee payer: The CRA relies on fee-payers to notify program officials of any changes in contact and/or billing information to ensure timely service delivery and the issuance of remissions.
- Form of the remission: Remissions, if applicable, will be processed as a reduction to the client invoice.
- Timeline for issuance of remissions: In accordance with the sub-section 7(1) of the Service Fees Act, all remissions incurred in any given fiscal year will be paid by or before July 1st of the following fiscal year.
Advance Income Tax Ruling Fees
Service standards
Our objective is to issue an advance income tax ruling (Ruling) to the client within a specified, agreed-upon time period. The service standard is 90 business days commencing with the receipt of all information required from the client as outlined in Information Circular IC 70-6, Advance Income Tax Rulings and Technical Interpretations.
Our objective is to complete a pre-ruling consultation teleconference with the client within a specified, agreed-upon time period. The service standard is within 15 business days from the date the CRA confirms to the client that the Pre-ruling Consultation request has been accepted as outlined in Information Circular IC70-6.
In some cases, achieving the 90 or 15 business days service target may not be possible due to delays outside of the CRA’s control. This may arise in situations involving exceptionally complex cases, requests to expand and change the scope of the Ruling or pre-ruling consultation, or cases that require intra-governmental consultation, for example with the Departments of Justice or Finance. In those circumstances, when the service target date needs to be adjusted, the CRA will inform the client in advance and establish an alternate mutually agreed upon service target date.
Remissions
For purposes of this discussion:
- Ruling refers to an advance income tax ruling or a supplemental ruling. It does not include a pre-ruling consultation.
- Service target date for a Ruling is the date that is 90 business days from the CRA having received all required information from the client or, if applicable, the mutually agreed upon service target date.
- Service target date for a pre-ruling consultation is the date that is 15 business days from the date the CRA confirms to the client that the pre-ruling consultation request has been accepted or, if applicable, the mutually agreed upon service target date.
- Completion date is the date that the Ruling is delivered to the client by the CRA or the date of the pre-ruling consultation teleconference.
Remission of the service fee will be granted when the completion date is subsequent to the service target date.
Remissions will be calculated on an incremental basis as a percentage discount on the rate applicable to the hours worked in each period subsequent to the service target date, as follows:
| Number of business days past the service target date | Percentage reduction of the hourly fee for work in the period |
|---|---|
| 1 to 30 days | 12.5% |
| 31 to 60 days | 25% |
| 61 to 90 days | 37.5% |
| 91+ days | 50% |
| Number of business days past the service target date | Percentage reduction of the hourly fee for work in the period |
|---|---|
| 1 to 5 days | 12.5% |
| 6 to 10 days | 25% |
| 11 to 15 days | 37.5% |
| 16+ days | 50% |
Interest is not paid for remissions made under section 7 of the Service Fees Act.
Taxation statistical analyses and data processing services fees
Service standard
Due to the complexity and the availability of the data, some requests may take more or less time to complete and deliver. The CRA’s service standard is to issue requested statistical information on or before a mutually agreed-upon service target date with a performance target of providing this information on or before this date 90% of the time.
After receiving all the information required for the request, the CRA and client will agree on a mutually acceptable date to deliver the requested information (referred to as the “service target date” below).
Completion date for the purposes of this directive will be the date that the requested information is delivered to the client by the CRA.
Remissions
Remissions will be granted where the completion date exceeds the service target date, as follows:
Service target date + 1-15 calendar days = 25% reduction in total charges
Service target date + 16+ calendar days = 50% reduction in total charges
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