Income Tax Act

Marginal note:Information or complaint

• 244 (1) An information or complaint under this Act may be laid or made by any officer of the Canada Revenue Agency, by a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or by any person thereto authorized by the Minister and, where an information or complaint purports to have been laid or made under this Act, it shall be deemed to have been laid or made by a person thereto authorized by the Minister and shall not be called in question for lack of authority of the informant or complainant except by the Minister or by a person acting for the Minister or Her Majesty.

• Marginal note:Two or more offences

  (2) An information or complaint in respect of an offence under this Act may be for one or more offences and no information, complaint, warrant, conviction or other proceeding in a prosecution under this Act is objectionable or insufficient by reason of the fact that it relates to two or more offences.

• Marginal note:Venue

  (3) An information or complaint in respect of an offence under this Act may be heard, tried or determined by any court, judge or justice if the accused is resident, carrying on business, found or apprehended or is in custody within the territorial jurisdiction of the court, judge or justice, as the case may be, although the matter of the information or complaint did not arise within that jurisdiction.

• Marginal note:Limitation period

  (4) An information or complaint under the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to summary convictions, in respect of an offence under this Act, may be laid or made at any time within but not later than 8 years after the day on which the matter of the information or complaint arose.

• Marginal note:Proof of service by mail

  (5) Where, by this Act or a regulation, provision is made for sending by mail a request for information, notice or demand, an affidavit of an officer of the Canada Revenue Agency, sworn before a commissioner or other person authorized to take affidavits, setting out that the officer has knowledge of the facts in the particular case, that such a request, notice or demand was sent by registered letter on a named day to the person to whom it was addressed (indicating the address) and that the officer identifies as exhibits attached to the affidavit the post office certificate of registration of the letter or a true copy of the relevant portion thereof and a true copy of the request, notice or demand, shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be received as evidence of the sending and of the request, notice or demand.

• Marginal note:Proof of personal service

  (6) Where, by this Act or a regulation, provision is made for personal service of a request for information, notice or demand, an affidavit of an officer of the Canada Revenue Agency, sworn before a commissioner or other person authorized to take affidavits, setting out that the officer has knowledge of the facts in the particular case, that such a request, notice or demand was served personally on a named day on the person to whom it was directed and that the officer identifies as an exhibit attached to the affidavit a true copy of the request, notice or demand, shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be received as evidence of the personal service and of the request, notice or demand.

• Marginal note:Proof of electronic delivery

  (6.1) If, by this Act or a regulation, provision is made for sending a notice to a person electronically, an affidavit of an officer of the Canada Revenue Agency sworn before a commissioner or other person authorized to take affidavits, shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be received as evidence of the sending and of the notice if the affidavit sets out that

  • (a) the officer has knowledge of the facts in the particular case;

  • (b) the notice was sent electronically to the person on a named day; and

  • (c) the officer identifies as exhibits attached to the affidavit copies of

    • (i) an electronic message confirming the notice has been sent to the person, and

    • (ii) the notice.

• Marginal note:Proof of failure to comply

  (7) Where, by this Act or a regulation, a person is required to make a return, statement, answer or certificate, an affidavit of an officer of the Canada Revenue Agency, sworn before a commissioner or other person authorized to take affidavits, setting out that the officer has charge of the appropriate records and that after a careful examination and search of those records the officer has been unable to find in a given case that the return, statement, answer or certificate, as the case may be, has been made by that person, shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be received as evidence that in that case that person did not make the return, statement, answer or certificate, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Proof of time of compliance

  (8) Where, by this Act or a regulation, a person is required to make a return, statement, answer or certificate, an affidavit of an officer of the Canada Revenue Agency, sworn before a commissioner or other person authorized to take affidavits, setting out that the officer has charge of the appropriate records and that after careful examination of those records the officer has found that the return, statement, answer or certificate was filed or made on a particular day, shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be received as evidence that it was filed or made on that day and not prior thereto.

• Marginal note:Proof of documents

  (9) An affidavit of an officer of the Canada Revenue Agency, sworn before a commissioner or other person authorized to take affidavits, setting out that the officer has charge of the appropriate records and that a document annexed to the affidavit is a document or true copy of a document, or a print-out of an electronic document, made by or on behalf of the Minister or a person exercising a power of the Minister or by or on behalf of a taxpayer, is evidence of the nature and contents of the document.

• Marginal note:Proof of no appeal

  (10) An affidavit of an officer of the Canada Revenue Agency, sworn before a commissioner or other person authorized to take affidavits, setting out that the officer has charge of the appropriate records and has knowledge of the practice of the Agency and that an examination of those records shows that a notice of assessment for a particular taxation year or a notice of determination was mailed or otherwise communicated to a taxpayer on a particular day under this Act and that, after careful examination and search of those records, the officer has been unable to find that a notice of objection or of appeal from the assessment or determination or a request under subsection 245(6), as the case may be, was received within the time allowed, shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be received as evidence of the statements contained in it.

• Marginal note:Presumption

  (11) Where evidence is offered under this section by an affidavit from which it appears that the person making the affidavit is an officer of the Canada Revenue Agency, it is not necessary to prove the person’s signature or that the person is such an officer nor is it necessary to prove the signature or official character of the person before whom the affidavit was sworn.

• Marginal note:Judicial notice

  (12) Judicial notice shall be taken of all orders or regulations made under this Act without those orders or regulations being specially pleaded or proven.

• Marginal note:Proof of documents

  (13) Every document purporting to have been executed under, or in the course of the administration or enforcement of, this Act over the name in writing of the Minister, the Deputy Minister of National Revenue, the Commissioner of Customs and Revenue, the Commissioner of Revenue or an officer authorized to exercise a power or perform a duty of the Minister under this Act is deemed to have been signed, made and issued by the Minister, the Deputy Minister, the Commissioner of Customs and Revenue, the Commissioner of Revenue or the officer unless it has been called in question by the Minister or by a person acting for the Minister or Her Majesty.

• (13.1) [Repealed, 1994, c. 13, s. 10]

• Marginal note:Mailing or sending date

  (14) For the purposes of this Act, where any notice or notification described in subsection 149.1(6.3), 152(3.1), 165(3) or 166.1(5) or any notice of assessment or determination is mailed, or sent electronically, it shall be presumed to be mailed or sent, as the case may be, on the date of that notice or notification.

• Marginal note:Date when electronic notice sent

  (14.1) If a notice or other communication in respect of an individual, other than a notice or other communication that refers to the business number of a person or partnership, is made available in electronic format such that it can be read or perceived by an individual or a computer system or other similar device, the notice or other communication is presumed to be sent to the individual and received by the individual on the date that an electronic message is sent, to the electronic address most recently provided by the individual to the Minister for the purposes of this subsection, informing the individual that a notice or other communication requiring the individual’s immediate attention is available in the individual’s secure electronic account. A notice or other communication is considered to be made available if it is posted by the Minister in the individual’s secure electronic account and the individual has authorized that notices or other communications may be made available in this manner and has not before that date revoked that authorization in a manner specified by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Date when electronic notice sent — My Business Account

  (14.2) A notice or other communication that is made available in electronic format such that it can be read or perceived by an individual or a computer system or other similar device, and that refers to the business number of a person or partnership, is presumed to be sent to the person or partnership and received by the person or partnership on the date that it is posted by the Minister in the secure electronic account in respect of a business number of the person or partnership, unless the person or partnership has requested, 30 days prior to that date, in a manner specified by the Minister, that the notice or other communication be sent by mail.

• Marginal note:Date when assessment made

  (15) If any notice of assessment or determination has been sent by the Minister as required by this Act, the assessment or determination is deemed to have been made on the day of sending of the notice of the assessment or determination.

• Marginal note:Forms prescribed or authorized

  (16) Every form purporting to be a form prescribed or authorized by the Minister shall be deemed to be a form authorized under this Act by the Minister unless called in question by the Minister or by a person acting for the Minister or Her Majesty.

• Marginal note:Proof of return in prosecution for offence

  (17) In any prosecution for an offence under this Act, the production of a return, certificate, statement or answer required by or under this Act or a regulation, purporting to have been filed or delivered by or on behalf of the person charged with the offence or to have been made or signed by or on behalf of that person shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be received as evidence that the return, certificate, statement or answer was filed or delivered, or was made or signed, by or on behalf of that person.

• Marginal note:Idem, in proceedings under Division J of Part I

  (18) In any proceedings under Division J of Part I, the production of a return, certificate, statement or answer required by or under this Act or a regulation, purporting to have been filed or delivered, or to have been made or signed, by or on behalf of the taxpayer shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be received as evidence that the return, certificate, statement or answer was filed or delivered, or was made or signed, by or on behalf of the taxpayer.

• Marginal note:Proof of statement of non-receipt

  (19) In any prosecution for an offence under this Act, an affidavit of an officer of the Canada Revenue Agency, sworn before a commissioner or other person authorized to take affidavits, setting out that the officer has charge of the appropriate records and that an examination of those records shows that an amount required under this Act to be remitted to the Receiver General on account of tax for a year has not been received by the Receiver General, shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be received as evidence of the statements contained therein.

• Marginal note:Members of partnerships

  (20) For the purposes of this Act,

  • (a) a reference in any notice or other document to the firm name of a partnership shall be read as a reference to all the members thereof; and

  • (b) any notice or other document shall be deemed to have been provided to each member of a partnership if the notice or other document is mailed to, served on or otherwise sent to the partnership

    • (i) at its latest known address or place of business, or

    • (ii) at the latest known address

      • (A) where it is a limited partnership, of any member thereof whose liability as a member is not limited, or

      • (B) in any other case, of any member thereof.

• Marginal note:Proof of return filed

  (21) For the purposes of this Act, a document presented by the Minister purporting to be a print-out of the information in respect of a taxpayer received under section 150.1 by the Minister from a person shall be received as evidence and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the return filed by the person under that section.

• Marginal note:Filing of information returns

  (22) Where a person who is required by this Act or a regulation to file an information return in prescribed form with the Minister meets the criteria specified in writing by the Minister, the person may at any time file the information return with the Minister by way of electronic filing (within the meaning assigned by subsection 150.1(1)) and the person shall be deemed to have filed the information return with the Minister at that time, and a document presented by the Minister purporting to be a print-out of the information so received by the Minister shall be received as evidence and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the information return so deemed to have been filed.