Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 14 MAY 2026

Audit Waivers: Generally A Bad Idea?

Tax auditors often request audit waivers when approaching limitation periods, but these seemingly simple agreements carry significant risks for taxpayers.

CanadaAccounting and Audit

AUDIT WAIVERS: GENERALLY A BAD IDEA?

AGREEING TO WAIVING AN AUDIT LIMITATION PERIOD COMES WITH SEVERAL RISKS

Download a PDF copy of this Blog here.

When it comes to Tax Audits, most Tax Auditors — whether the federal Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or its counterparts auditing for tobacco, fuel or other provincial compliance matters — are operating with one particular deadline in mind: a three or four-year limitation period governing what the Auditor can review and assess.

When Tax Audits are conducted late in that period, Tax Auditors will typically request Audit Waivers to provide themselves with additional time to complete their audits and issue assessments.

In this Tax Audits Series Report, we review what Audit Waivers are, how they operate, and why they can often be a very bad idea for the taxpayers and businesses agreeing to them.

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

See more popular content from