The Minister of National Revenue’s report to the Finance Committee dated May 29, 2017 indicated that a number of key changes would be implemented before the end of the year, being March 31, 2018, including the following:
- More frequent and better communications between the taxpayer and the CRA, including a meeting with taxpayers to be held no later than within four weeks of receipt of an ATR request. …
- Amend the current 90-day service standard for ATRs to address complex tax policy issues that cannot typically be completed within a 90-day period, namely, those that require a formal referral to the CRA’s General Anti-Avoidance Rule Committee, the Department of Finance or the Department of Justice. …
- Close an ATR file where the ATR request is not properly prepared or supported with adequate representations or where the taxpayer has not responded to a request for additional information within 30 calendar days.
The goal of this key change is to thwart taxpayers from hurriedly submitting an incomplete submission in order to get an advantageous “spot in the queue”. Once an ATR file is closed, a follow-up submission will not receive any greater priority than any other ATR requests.