Income Tax Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.))

Marginal note:Regulations

• 221 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) prescribing anything that, by this Act, is to be prescribed or is to be determined or regulated by regulation;

  • (b) prescribing the evidence required to establish facts relevant to assessments under this Act;

  • (c) to facilitate the assessment of tax where deductions or exemptions of a taxpayer have changed in a taxation year;

  • (d) requiring any class of persons to make information returns respecting any class of information required in connection with assessments under this Act;

  • (d.1) requiring any person or partnership to provide any information — including their name, address, business number, Social Insurance Number or trust account number — to any class of persons required to make an information return containing that information;

  • (d.2) requiring any class of persons to make information available to the public for the purpose of making information returns respecting any class of information required in connection with assessments under this Act;

  • (e) requiring a person who is, by a regulation made under paragraph 221(1)(d), required to make an information return to supply a copy of the information return or of a prescribed part thereof to the person to whom the information return or part thereof relates;

  • (f) [Repealed, 1998, c. 19, s. 222(2)]

  • (g) providing for the retention by way of deduction or set-off of the amount of a taxpayer’s income tax or other indebtedness under this Act out of any amount or amounts that may be or become payable by Her Majesty to the taxpayer in respect of salary or wages;

  • (h) defining the classes of persons who may be regarded as dependent for the purposes of this Act;

  • (i) defining the classes of non-resident persons who may be regarded for the purposes of this Act

    • (i) as a spouse or common-law partner supported by a taxpayer, or

    • (ii) as a person dependent or wholly dependent on a taxpayer for support,

    and specifying the evidence required to establish that a person belongs to any such class; and

  • (j) generally to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act.

• Marginal note:Effect

  (2) A regulation made under this Act shall have effect from the date it is published in the Canada Gazette or at such time thereafter as may be specified in the regulation unless the regulation provides otherwise and it

  • (a) has a relieving effect only;

  • (b) corrects an ambiguous or deficient enactment that was not in accordance with the objects of this Act or the Income Tax Regulations;

  • (c) is consequential on an amendment to this Act that is applicable before the date the regulation is published in the Canada Gazette; or

  • (d) gives effect to a budgetary or other public announcement, in which case the regulation shall not, except where paragraph 221(2)(a), 221(2)(b) or 221(2)(c) applies, have effect

    • (i) before the date on which the announcement was made, in the case of a deduction or withholding from an amount paid or credited, and

    • (ii) before the taxation year in which the announcement is made, in any other case.

• Marginal note:Regulations binding Crown

  (3) Regulations made under paragraph 221(1)(d) or 221(1)(e) are binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

• Marginal note:Incorporation by reference

  (4) A regulation made under this Act may incorporate by reference material as amended from time to time.

Marginal note:Providing information returns in electronic format

221.01 A person may provide an information return electronically under subsection 209(5) of the Income Tax Regulations if the criteria specified by the Minister are met.

Marginal note:Application of interest

221.1 For greater certainty, where an amendment to this Act or an amendment or enactment that relates to this Act applies to or in respect of any transaction, event or time, or any taxation year, fiscal period or other period of time or part thereof (in this section referred to as the “application time”) occurring, or that is, before the day on which the amendment or enactment is assented to or promulgated, for the purposes of the provisions of this Act that provide for payment of, or liability to, any interest, the amendment or enactment shall, unless a contrary intention is evident, be deemed to have come into force at the beginning of the last taxation year beginning before the application time.

Marginal note:Re-appropriation of amounts

• 221.2 (1) Where a particular amount was appropriated to an amount (in this section referred to as the “debt”) that is or may become payable by a person under any enactment referred to in paragraphs 223(1)(a) to 223(1)(d), the Minister may, on application by the person, appropriate the particular amount, or a part thereof, to another amount that is or may become payable under any such enactment and, for the purposes of any such enactment,

  • (a) the later appropriation shall be deemed to have been made at the time of the earlier appropriation;

  • (b) the earlier appropriation shall be deemed not to have been made to the extent of the later appropriation; and

  • (c) the particular amount shall be deemed not to have been paid on account of the debt to the extent of the later appropriation.

• Marginal note:Re-appropriation of amounts

  (2) If a particular amount was appropriated to an amount (in this section referred to as the “debt”) that is or may become payable by a person under this Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Air Travellers Security Charge Act, the Excise Act, 2001, the Underused Housing Tax Act, the Select Luxury Items Tax Act, the Digital Services Tax Act or the Global Minimum Tax Act, the Minister may, on application by the person, appropriate the particular amount, or a part of it, to another amount that is or may become payable under any of those Acts and, for the purposes of any of those Acts,

  • (a) the later appropriation is deemed to have been made at the time of the earlier appropriation;

  • (b) the earlier appropriation is deemed not to have been made to the extent of the later appropriation; and

  • (c) the particular amount is deemed not to have been paid on account of the debt to the extent of the later appropriation.

Collection

Marginal note:Definitions

• 222 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  action

  action means an action to collect a tax debt of a taxpayer and includes a proceeding in a court and anything done by the Minister under subsection 129(2), 131(3), 132(2) or 164(2), section 203 or any provision of this Part. (action)

  tax debt

  tax debt means any amount payable by a taxpayer under this Act. (dette fiscale)

• Marginal note:Debts to Her Majesty

  (2) A tax debt is a debt due to Her Majesty and is recoverable as such in the Federal Court or any other court of competent jurisdiction or in any other manner provided by this Act.

• Marginal note:No actions after limitation period

  (3) The Minister may not commence an action to collect a tax debt after the end of the limitation period for the collection of the tax debt.

• Marginal note:Limitation period

  (4) The limitation period for the collection of a tax debt of a taxpayer

  • (a) begins

    • (i) if a notice of assessment, or a notice referred to in subsection 226(1), in respect of the tax debt is sent to or served on the taxpayer, after March 3, 2004, on the day that is 90 days after the day on which the last one of those notices is sent or served, and

    • (ii) if subparagraph (i) does not apply and the tax debt was payable on March 4, 2004, or would have been payable on that date but for a limitation period that otherwise applied to the collection of the tax debt, on March 4, 2004; and

  • (b) ends, subject to subsection (8), on the day that is 10 years after the day on which it begins.

• Marginal note:Limitation period restarted

  (5) The limitation period described in subsection (4) for the collection of a tax debt of a taxpayer restarts (and ends, subject to subsection (8), on the day that is 10 years after the day on which it restarts) on any day, before it would otherwise end, on which

  • (a) the taxpayer acknowledges the tax debt in accordance with subsection (6);

  • (b) the Minister commences an action to collect the tax debt; or

  • (c) the Minister, under subsection 159(3) or 160(2) or paragraph 227(10)(a), assesses any person in respect of the tax debt.

• Marginal note:Acknowledgement of tax debts

  (6) A taxpayer acknowledges a tax debt if the taxpayer

  • (a) promises, in writing, to pay the tax debt;

  • (b) makes a written acknowledgement of the tax debt, whether or not a promise to pay can be inferred from the acknowledgement and whether or not it contains a refusal to pay; or

  • (c) makes a payment, including a purported payment by way of a negotiable instrument that is dishonoured, on account of the tax debt.

• Marginal note:Agent or legal representative

  (7) For the purposes of this section, an acknowledgement made by a taxpayer’s agent or legal representative has the same effect as if it were made by the taxpayer.

• Marginal note:Extension of limitation period

  (8) In computing the day on which a limitation period ends, there shall be added the number of days on which one or more of the following is the case:

  • (a) the Minister may not, because of any of subsections 225.1(2) to (5), take any of the actions described in subsection 225.1(1) in respect of the tax debt;

  • (b) the Minister has accepted and holds security in lieu of payment of the tax debt;

  • (c) if the taxpayer was resident in Canada on the applicable date described in paragraph (4)(a) in respect of the tax debt, the taxpayer is non-resident; or

  • (d) an action that the Minister may otherwise take in respect of the tax debt is restricted or not permitted under any provision of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or of the Farm Debt Mediation Act.

• Marginal note:Bar to claims

  (9) Notwithstanding any law of Canada or a province, Her Majesty is not liable for any claim that arises because the Minister collected a tax debt after the end of any limitation period that applied to the collection of the tax debt and before March 4, 2004.

• Marginal note:Orders after March 3, 2004 and before effect

  (10) Notwithstanding any order or judgment made after March 3, 2004 that declares a tax debt not to be payable by a taxpayer, or that orders the Minister to reimburse to a taxpayer a tax debt collected by the Minister, because a limitation period that applied to the collection of the tax debt ended before royal assent to any measure giving effect to this section, the tax debt is deemed to have become payable on March 4, 2004.

Marginal note:Court costs

222.1 Where an amount is payable by a person to Her Majesty because of an order, judgment or award of a court in respect of the costs of litigation relating to a matter to which this Act applies, subsections 220(4) and 220(4.2) and sections 223, 224 to 225 and 226 apply to the amount as if the amount were a debt owing by the person to Her Majesty on account of tax payable by the person under this Act.

Definition of amount payable

• 223 (1) For the purposes of subsection 223(2), an amount payable by a person means any or all of

  • (a) an amount payable under this Act by the person;

  • (b) an amount payable under the Employment Insurance Act by the person;

  • (b.1) [Repealed, 2024, c. 17, s. 69]

  • (c) an amount payable under the Canada Pension Plan by the person; and

  • (d) an amount payable by the person under an Act of a province with which the Minister of Finance has entered into an agreement for the collection of taxes payable to the province under that Act.

• Marginal note:Certificates

  (2) An amount payable by a person (in this section referred to as a “debtor”) that has not been paid or any part of an amount payable by the debtor that has not been paid may be certified by the Minister as an amount payable by the debtor.

• Marginal note:Registration in court

  (3) On production to the Federal Court, a certificate made under subsection 223(2) in respect of a debtor shall be registered in the Court and when so registered has the same effect, and all proceedings may be taken thereon, as if the certificate were a judgment obtained in the Court against the debtor for a debt in the amount certified plus interest thereon to the day of payment as provided by the statute or statutes referred to in subsection 223(1) under which the amount is payable and, for the purpose of any such proceedings, the certificate shall be deemed to be a judgment of the Court against the debtor for a debt due to Her Majesty, enforceable in the amount certified plus interest thereon to the day of payment as provided by that statute or statutes.

• Marginal note:Costs

  (4) All reasonable costs and charges incurred or paid in respect of the registration in the Court of a certificate made under subsection 223(2) or in respect of any proceedings taken to collect the amount certified are recoverable in like manner as if they had been included in the amount certified in the certificate when it was registered.

• Marginal note:Charge on property

  (5) A document issued by the Federal Court evidencing a certificate in respect of a debtor registered under subsection (3), a writ of that Court issued pursuant to the certificate or any notification of the document or writ (such document, writ or notification in this section referred to as a “memorial”) may be filed, registered or otherwise recorded for the purpose of creating a charge, lien or priority on, or a binding interest in, property in a province, or any interest in, or for civil law any right in, such property, held by the debtor in the same manner as a document evidencing

  • (a) a judgment of the superior court of the province against a person for a debt owing by the person, or

  • (b) an amount payable or required to be remitted by a person in the province in respect of a debt owing to Her Majesty in right of the province

  may be filed, registered or otherwise recorded in accordance with or pursuant to the law of the province to create a charge, lien or priority on, or a binding interest in, the property or interest.

• Marginal note:Creation of charge

  (6) If a memorial has been filed, registered or otherwise recorded under subsection (5),

  • (a) a charge, lien or priority is created on, or a binding interest is created in, property in the province, or any interest in, or for civil law any right in, such property, held by the debtor, or

  • (b) such property, or interest or right in the property, is otherwise bound,

  in the same manner and to the same extent as if the memorial were a document evidencing a judgment referred to in paragraph (5)(a) or an amount referred to in paragraph (5)(b), and the charge, lien, priority or binding interest created shall be subordinate to any charge, lien, priority or binding interest in respect of which all steps necessary to make it effective against other creditors were taken before the time the memorial was filed, registered or otherwise recorded.

• Marginal note:Proceedings in respect of memorial

  (7) If a memorial is filed, registered or otherwise recorded in a province under subsection 223(5), proceedings may be taken in the province in respect of the memorial, including proceedings

  • (a) to enforce payment of the amount evidenced by the memorial, interest on the amount and all costs and charges paid or incurred in respect of

    • (i) the filing, registration or other recording of the memorial, and

    • (ii) proceedings taken to collect the amount,

  • (b) to renew or otherwise prolong the effectiveness of the filing, registration or other recording of the memorial,

  • (c) to cancel or withdraw the memorial wholly or in respect of any of the property, or interests or rights, affected by the memorial, or

  • (d) to postpone the effectiveness of the filing, registration or other recording of the memorial in favour of any right, charge, lien or priority that has been or is intended to be filed, registered or otherwise recorded in respect of any property, or interest or right, affected by the memorial,

  in the same manner and to the same extent as if the memorial were a document evidencing a judgment referred to in paragraph 223(5)(a) or an amount referred to in paragraph 223(5)(b), except that if in any such proceeding or as a condition precedent to any such proceeding any order, consent or ruling is required under the law of the province to be made or given by the superior court of the province or a judge or official of the court, a like order, consent or ruling may be made or given by the Federal Court or a judge or official of the Federal Court and, when so made or given, has the same effect for the purposes of the proceeding as if it were made or given by the superior court of the province or a judge or official of the court.

• Marginal note:Presentation of documents

  (8) If

  • (a) a memorial is presented for filing, registration or other recording under subsection (5) or a document relating to the memorial is presented for filing, registration or other recording for the purpose of any proceeding described in subsection (7) to any official in the land registry system, personal property or movable property registry system, or other registry system, of a province, it shall be accepted for filing, registration or other recording, or

  • (b) access is sought to any person, place or thing in a province to make the filing, registration or other recording, the access shall be granted

  in the same manner and to the same extent as if the memorial or document relating to the memorial were a document evidencing a judgment referred to in paragraph 223(5)(a) or an amount referred to in paragraph 223(5)(b) for the purpose of a like proceeding, as the case may be, except that, if the memorial or document is issued by the Federal Court or signed or certified by a judge or official of the Court, any affidavit, declaration or other evidence required under the law of the province to be provided with or to accompany the memorial or document in the proceedings is deemed to have been provided with or to have accompanied the memorial or document as so required.

• Marginal note:Sale, etc.

  (9) Notwithstanding any law of Canada or of a province, a sheriff or other person shall not, without the written consent of the Minister, sell or otherwise dispose of any property, or publish any notice or otherwise advertise in respect of any sale or other disposition of any property pursuant to any process issued or charge, lien, priority or binding interest created in any proceeding to collect an amount certified in a certificate made under subsection 223(2), interest on the amount and costs, but if that consent is subsequently given, any property that would have been affected by such a process, charge, lien, priority or binding interest if the Minister’s consent had been given at the time the process was issued or the charge, lien, priority or binding interest was created, as the case may be, shall be bound, seized, attached, charged or otherwise affected as it would be if that consent had been given at the time the process was issued or the charge, lien, priority or binding interest was created, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Completion of notices, etc.

  (10) If information required to be set out by any sheriff or other person in a minute, notice or document required to be completed for any purpose cannot, by reason of subsection 223(9), be so set out, the sheriff or other person shall complete the minute, notice or document to the extent possible without that information and, when the consent of the Minister is given under that subsection, a further minute, notice or document setting out all the information shall be completed for the same purpose, and the sheriff or other person having complied with this subsection is deemed to have complied with the Act, regulation or rule requiring the information to be set out in the minute, notice or document.

• Marginal note:Application for an order

  (11) A sheriff or other person who is unable, by reason of subsection 223(9) or 223(10), to comply with any law or rule of court is bound by any order made by a judge of the Federal Court, on an ex parte application by the Minister, for the purpose of giving effect to the proceeding, charge, lien, priority or binding interest.

• Marginal note:Deemed security

  (11.1) When a charge, lien, priority or binding interest created under subsection 223(6) by filing, registering or otherwise recording a memorial under subsection 223(5) is registered in accordance with subsection 87(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, it is deemed

  • (a) to be a claim that is secured by a security and that, subject to subsection 87(2) of that Act, ranks as a secured claim under that Act; and

  • (b) to also be a claim referred to in paragraph 86(2)(a) of that Act.

• Marginal note:Details in certificates and memorials

  (12) Notwithstanding any law of Canada or of a province, in any certificate made under subsection 223(2) in respect of a debtor, in any memorial evidencing the certificate or in any writ or document issued for the purpose of collecting an amount certified, it is sufficient for all purposes

  • (a) to set out, as the amount payable by the debtor, the total of amounts payable by the debtor without setting out the separate making up that total; and

  • (b) to refer to the rate of interest to be charged on the separate amounts making up the amount payable in general terms as interest at the rate prescribed under this Act applicable from time to time on amounts payable to the Receiver General without indicating the specific rates of interest to be charged on each of the separate amounts or to be charged for any particular period of time.