Canadians who pay extra tax or penalties after relying on bad advice from the Canada Revenue Agency are being told to complain under the Taxpayer Bill Of Rights — a document federal judges have already ruled grants no actual rights.In a written response tabled in the House of Commons, CRA managers said taxpayers misled by agency call centre staff can pursue internal complaint processes referenced in the so-called Bill Of Rights, even though courts have concluded it carries no legal force.“As noted in the Taxpayer Bill Of Rights, taxpayers ‘have the right to complete, accurate, clear and timely information,’” the agency wrote in an Inquiry Of Ministry response. “Taxpayers would have access to the Agency’s established recourse options, which can vary.”Blacklock's Reporter says the response was prompted by Conservative MP Marc Dalton, who asked what recourse exists for taxpayers who ended up paying more tax or penalties after receiving incorrect information from CRA call centres.The issue has been magnified by a damning report from the Auditor General released October 21, which found CRA agents routinely give wrong answers. .According to the report, responses to business or benefits questions were accurate just over 54% of the time, while answers to general individual tax questions were correct only 17% of the time. The Auditor General did not disclose the specific questions tested.Despite those findings, Revenue Commissioner Bob Hamilton told the Commons public accounts committee on October 23 that the agency is not financially responsible for the consequences of its own errors.“We have certain processes in place,” Hamilton said when pressed on whether Canadians should be compensated.Conservative MP Gérard Deltell challenged that position, asking who ultimately pays for mistakes made by the tax collector. “Who is going to pay for the mistake you made, the honest citizen or the Canada Revenue Agency?” he asked.“It is a problem,” Hamilton replied, later acknowledging taxpayer frustration when Deltell asked whether the agency had calculated how much money Canadians lost because of inaccurate advice..The Taxpayer Bill Of Rights was introduced in 2007 but was never passed by Parliament. Complaints are reviewed by the Taxpayer Ombudsman, a CRA employee with no power to overturn decisions or order compensation.That lack of authority has been underscored by the courts. In a 2024 decision, the Federal Court dismissed an appeal by a taxpayer who relied on the Bill Of Rights to fight reassessments.“The Federal Court has no power to enforce the Taxpayer Bill Of Rights which is nothing more than a service pledge with no force of law,” wrote Justice Allyson Whyte Nowak.Tax Court Justice Gaston Jorré reached the same conclusion in a separate 2024 ruling, stating that despite its title, the document creates no enforceable rights.“Notwithstanding its name the Taxpayer Bill Of Rights is not a law and does not give rise to legal rights,” Jorré wrote, describing it as “more in the nature of an aspirational document.”He added that Canadians might be less misled if the document were called something else altogether.
