CRA Auditors' Powers To Obtain Information

Resolving Tax Disputes (3rd edition) studies tax disputes, conflict levels, and basic strategies. It helps accountants to limit early-stage mistakes and reduce liability.

One of the chapters in RDT3 is about audits and how to handle them. It provides valuable tips to help you navigate the audit process. We've included some excerpts from that chapter in this article.

Auditors have broad powers. They can inspect the taxpayer's books and records, demand information and documents, and apply for a warrant to seize documents. In this blog post, we will detail auditors' powers.

Background

The CRA has extensive powers to demand information from taxpayers and from third parties under the ITA. During a civil audit, there are very few circumstances in which taxpayers can refuse to provide information to the CRA because they do not have protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the "Charter"), e.g., the right to silence, during a civil audit.