Principal Issues: Reliance on archived interpretation bulletins (ITs) and Income Tax Technical News (ITTNs).
Position: Taxpayers and their representatives may continue to refer to archived ITs or ITTNs, keeping in mind that the publication is only current up to its stated effective date and is not a substitute for the law.
Reasons: Public information available on the CRA website.
2018 STEP CRA Roundtable – May 29, 2018
Question 18. Reliance on archived interpretation bulletins and income tax technical news releases
In recent years, CRA has been working on its folio project to organize information by subject. As part of this, many interpretation bulletins have been archived. In general terms, to what extent can persons rely on interpretation bulletins which have been archived, and also to what extent can one rely on comments made in Income Tax Technical News releases?
CRA Response
In August of 2013, the CRA added an “archived content” notice at the top of the Interpretation Bulletin (IT) and Income Tax Technical News (ITTN) publications available on the CRA’s website in anticipation of the new web-based folio chapters. We wish to highlight that this notice had no effect on the status or reliability of the particular publication. It merely confirmed that the publication’s webpage is not subject to Government of Canada web standards, and that its content will not be altered or updated.
To that end, taxpayers and their representatives may continue to refer to these ITs or ITTNs for explanations of the CRA’s interpretation of federal income tax law, keeping in mind that the publication is only current up to its stated effective date and is not a substitute for the law. Therefore, we note that any reliance on the content of an archived IT or ITTN must take into account the following:
- any relevant provisions of the law in force for the particular taxation year being considered,
- the effect of any relevant amendments to those provisions, and
- any relevant court decisions occurring after its effective date.
It is also important to note that once the subject matter of an archived IT or ITTN is reflected in an income tax folio chapter, the particular IT or ITTN will then be cancelled. Please refer to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website for more information.
Julia Clarkson
2018-074417