Vol. 142, No. 14 — April 5, 2008

Rules Amending the Tax Court of Canada Rules of Procedure Respecting the Excise Tax Act (Informal Procedure)

Statutory authority

Tax Court of Canada Act

Sponsoring agency

Tax Court of Canada

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Rules.)

Description

The Tax Court of Canada Act provides that rules regulating the pleadings, practice and procedure in the Tax Court are established by a rules committee, subject to the approval of the Governor General in Council.

The general purpose of the proposed Rules Amending the Tax Court of Canada Rules of Procedure Respecting the Excise Tax Act (Informal Procedure) [the Rules] is to make consequential amendments resulting from amendments made to the Tax Court of Canada Act made pursuant to AnAct to amend the Judges Act and certain other Acts in relation to courts, S.C. 2006, c. 11.

Rationale for the amendments

Sections 18.15, 18.26, 18.29 and 18.3009 of the Tax Court of Canada Act were amended by AnAct to amend the Judges Act and certain other Acts in relation to courts, S.C. 2006, c. 11. The general purpose of those amendments was to repeal the requirement for a filing fee for appeals filed under the informal procedure. Consequential amendments to the Rules are therefore required to remove the reference to the $100 filing fee.

The English version of the definition of “electronic filing” is amended to add a comma after “by electronic means.”

Sections 4, 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 have been improved for readability and to clarify the procedure on how to institute an appeal. The amendments also take into account the removal of the requirement to pay a $100 filing fee for appeals filed under the informal procedure.

Section 9 is amended to set out the circumstances when the Court may award costs to the respondent.

Alternatives

No other alternatives were considered, as the Act requires that the Court’s rules be amended by regulation.

Benefits and costs

These amendments are designed to improve procedures before the Tax Court of Canada. It is expected that these changes will have little financial impact.

Consultation

The proposed amendments were considered by the Tax Court of Canada Rules Committee, which is composed of judges from the Tax Court of Canada and practising lawyers from both the private and public sectors.

Contact

Charles M. Nadeau
Counsel and Executive Officer
Chambers of the Chief Justice
Tax Court of Canada
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0M1
Telephone: 613-995-4789
Fax: 613-943-8449
Email: charles.nadeau@cas-satj.gc.ca

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to subsection 22(3) (see footnote a) of the Tax Court of Canada Act (see footnote b), that the rules committee of the Tax Court of Canada, pursuant to section 20 (see footnote c) of that Act and subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, proposes to make the annexed Rules Amending the Tax Court of Canada Rules of Procedure Respecting the Excise Tax Act (Informal Procedure).

Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Rules within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to the Rules Committee, Tax Court of Canada, 200 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0M1.

RULES AMENDING THE TAX COURT OF CANADA RULES OF PROCEDURE RESPECTING THE EXCISE TAX ACT
(INFORMAL PROCEDURE)

1. The definition “electronic filing” in section 2 of the English version of the Tax Court of Canada Rules of Procedure Respecting the Excise Tax Act (Informal Procedure) (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

“electronic filing” means the act of filing, by electronic means, through the Court’s website (www.tcc-cci.gc.ca) or any other website referred to in a direction issued by the Court, any document listed on those sites; (dépôt électronique)

2. The heading before section 4 and sections 4 and 4.1 of the Rules are replaced by the following:

FILING A NOTICE OF APPEAL

4. An appeal referred to in section 3 shall be instituted by filing a notice of appeal, which may be in the form set out in Schedule 4, using one of the following methods:

(a) depositing the notice with the Registry;

(b) sending it by mail to the Registry; or

(c) sending it by fax or by electronic filing to the Registry.

FILING OF OTHER DOCUMENTS

4.1 Except as otherwise provided in these rules and unless otherwise directed by the Court, a document other than a notice of appeal may be filed using one of the following methods:

(a) depositing it with the Registry;

(b) sending it by mail to the Registry; or

(c) sending it by fax or by electronic filing to the Registry.

FILING DATE

4.2 Except as otherwise provided in these rules and unless otherwise directed by the Court, the date of filing of a document is deemed to be

(a) in the case of a document filed with the Registry or sent by mail or by fax, the date shown by the date received stamp placed on the document by the Registry at the time it is received; or

(b) in the case of a document filed by electronic filing, the date shown on the acknowledgment of receipt issued by the Court.

ELECTRONIC FILING

4.3 (1) Except as otherwise provided in these rules and unless otherwise directed by the Court, when a document is filed by electronic filing, the copy of the document that is printed by the Registry and placed in the Court file is deemed to be the original version of the document.

(2) A party who files a document by electronic filing shall, if required by these rules or at the request of a party or the Court, provide a paper copy of the document and file it with the Registry.

(3) If the Registry has no record of the receipt of a document, it is deemed not to have been filed, unless the Court directs otherwise.

3. Section 9 of the Rules is replaced by the following:

9. (1) The Court may determine the amount of the costs of all parties involved in any proceeding, the allocation of those costs and the persons required to pay them.

(2) The Court may award costs not exceeding the amounts listed in section 10 to the respondent only if the actions of the appellant have unduly delayed the prompt and effective resolution of the appeal.

(3) The Court may direct the payment of costs in a fixed sum, in lieu of any taxed costs.

4. Subsection 12(1) of the Rules is replaced by the following:

12. (1) Subject to subsection 9(3), costs shall be taxed by the Registrar or any other person that may be designated by the Chief Justice as a taxing officer.

Footnote a
R.S., c. 51 (4th Supp.), s. 7

Footnote b
R.S., c. T-2

Footnote c
S.C. 2002, c. 8, s. 78

Footnote 1
SOR/92-42

NOTICE:
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