CRA Moves Forward With International Audits Despite Continued Backlog

The COVID-19 pandemic brought delays, backlogs, and closures across the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in 2020. The audit division was no different. In March 2020, the CRA announced that it was suspending the vast majority of audit activity for a minimum of four weeks, other than audits involving the very largest taxpayers. This suspension meant that the CRA ceased requests for information relating to existing audits, finalizing existing audits, and issuing reassessments. Further, deadlines for information or document requests were suspended and no action was required from taxpayers under audit during this time. This suspension remained in effect until June 2020, though audits of small and medium businesses did not resume until late fall. In spite of the resulting backlog, the CRA has signalled its continued intention to increase its audit function and to prioritize international audits.