Principal Issues: The taxpayer requests the Minister rescind the tax liability relating to scholarship income received by a student.
Position: The CRA is unable to rescind the tax liability.
Reasons: The income and related tax are properly determined within the provisions of the Act.
May 25, 2004
XXXXXXXXXX
Dear XXXXXXXXXX:
The Honourable Stan Keyes, Minister of National Revenue, has asked me to reply to your email of April 21, 2004, concerning the taxation of scholarships.
Under current income tax law, scholarships and bursaries received by students while pursuing their education are required to be included in income by the student, subject to an exemption of up to $3,000. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) publishes a number of documents explaining the tax rules with respect to scholarships, including Interpretation Bulletin IT-75R4, Scholarships, Fellowships, Bursaries, Prizes, and Research Grants, and the pamphlet Students and Income Tax. These documents are available on our Web site at www.cra.gc.ca.
The role of the CRA is to administer and enforce the existing tax law as adopted by Parliament and interpreted by the courts. The CRA is committed to applying the laws in a consistent and fair manner. The Department of Finance is responsible for the tax policy underlying the legislation and for amendments to the Act. Therefore, I am forwarding our correspondence to Mr. Bob Hamilton, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of the Tax Policy Branch of that department, for consideration.
I appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.
Yours sincerely,
Stephen Rigby Assistant Commissioner Policy and Planning Branch
c.c.: Mr. Bob Hamilton
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister
Tax Policy Branch
Department of Finance
16th Floor, East Tower
L'Esplanade Laurier
140 O'Connor Street
Ottawa ON K1A 0G5
Bob Naufal, CMA
(613) 957-2744
2004-007324
April 29, 2004