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ARTICLE · 13 NOVEMBER 2000

The GIFI – Extra Compliance Burden for Canadian Corporate Taxpayers

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration

The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) now requires that all Canadian corporations file the new General Index of Financial Information (GIFI) with their federal income tax returns, starting with taxation years ending in 2000. The GIFI is intended to replace the financial statements that were traditionally filed with the returns.

The GIFI is a list of about seven hundred pre-defined financial statement items. Each is assigned a unique code. GIFI schedules are available in all tax software packages approved by CCRA.

The CCRA’s View Of The GIFI

The CCRA introduced the GIFI as a method of collecting financial information in a codified format to facilitate processing, validation and audit selection. The CCRA claims that the new codified format will increase efficiency by allowing it to process returns and answer questions faster, and will provide Statistics Canada with an improved collection process. It is also a step forward towards electronic filing of federal corporate returns.

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