Once the CRA has confirmed a reassessment — or has sat on your objection long enough — the way into the Tax Court of Canada is the notice of appeal. It is the document that starts the litigation, and like the objection before it, it runs on a hard statutory clock. This guide walks through the process from start to finish: when the 90-day deadline runs, how to extend it if you miss it, how to choose between the Informal and General Procedures, the methods of filing, what to put in the document, and what happens once the Crown files its reply.
First, the prerequisite: you must have objected
With very narrow exceptions, you cannot appeal a reassessment to the Tax Court of Canada unless you first filed a valid notice of objection. The objection is the gateway, and the appeal is the next stage. If you have not yet objected, start there — see How to File a Notice of Objection — and read Notice of Objection vs Tax Court Appeal for how the two stages connect.
The 90-day deadline
There are two routes into the Court, and the timing rules differ.
After a notice of confirmation or a reassessment following your objection
Once the CRA confirms the reassessment (a notice of confirmation) or reassesses following your objection, you have 90 days from the date on that notice to file your appeal. The 90 days runs from the date printed on the notice, not the date you received it, so the clock can already be running when the envelope arrives. Treat it as firm and calculate it the day the notice lands.
After a 90-day stall on the objection
You do not always have to wait for the CRA to decide. If you filed a valid objection and the CRA has not notified you of its decision within 90 days (180 days for GST/HST), you may appeal directly to the Tax Court without waiting any longer. Here the 90/180 days is a threshold, not a deadline: once it passes you are permitted to appeal, with no upper time limit triggered by the stall itself. Do not confuse the two — after a confirmation, the 90 days is a deadline you must meet; after a stall, it is a door that opens.
If you miss the deadline: extensions
A missed appeal deadline is serious but not always fatal. Under section 167 of the Tax Court of Canada Act, you can apply to the Court for an extension of time to file a late notice of appeal. The application has its own outer limit — generally it must be brought within one year after the 90-day appeal deadline expired — and the Court must be satisfied, among other things, that you had a bona fide intention to appeal within the deadline, that it would be just and equitable to grant the extension, that the application was made as soon as circumstances permitted, and that there are reasonable grounds for the appeal. The threshold is high, so the 90 days should be treated as the real deadline and the extension as a remedy of last resort.
Choose your procedure
Before filing, decide which procedural track you want. The Informal Procedure is the faster, cheaper track for smaller disputes — generally $25,000 or less in federal tax per year, $12,000 or less in GST/HST, or a loss of $50,000 or less — and is explained in The Tax Court Informal Procedure, Explained. The General Procedure is full litigation, required above those limits and available by choice below them; it is explained in The Tax Court General Procedure, Explained. If you qualify for the Informal Procedure and want it, you say so in the notice of appeal. If you are over the limit but want the Informal track, you can elect it by surrendering the amount over the threshold.
What goes in the notice of appeal
A notice of appeal should set out:
- The facts. A clear, organized account of the material facts, usually in chronological order.
- The issues. The specific questions the Court is being asked to decide.
- The statutory provisions relied on. The sections of the Income Tax Act or Excise Tax Act that support your position.
- The reasons. Why, on those facts and that law, the reassessment is wrong.
- The relief sought. What you want the Court to do — vacate the reassessment, vary it, delete a penalty, or refer it back to the Minister on stated terms.
In the Informal Procedure the document can be in plain language and is not held to formal drafting standards. In the General Procedure the pleading is formal, and care in drafting matters because the Crown's reply will engage on its framing. In both, the notice of appeal should squarely engage the CRA's reasons for confirming the reassessment, because those reasons preview the assumptions of fact the Crown will plead.
How to file
You can file a notice of appeal with the Tax Court of Canada by:
- Electronic filing through the Court's online filing system;
- Mail or courier to a Registry office of the Tax Court; or
- Fax to the Registry.
There is no filing fee for an Informal Procedure appeal. The General Procedure carries a filing fee that scales with the amount in dispute. Whatever method you use, keep proof of the filing date — a confirmation number, a courier receipt, or a fax transmission report — because the deadline is calculated to the day and timeliness can be questioned.
What happens next: the reply
After you file, the matter is served on the Crown, and the Department of Justice — acting for the Minister of National Revenue — files a reply. The reply admits or denies your facts, states the Crown's position, identifies the statutory basis for the reassessment, and sets out the assumptions of fact the Minister relied on at reassessment. Those assumptions define the battlefield: the taxpayer generally carries the burden of rebutting them, as explained in Evidence and Burden of Proof in Tax Court. Read the reply closely; it tells you exactly what you have to prove.
From filing to hearing
In the Informal Procedure, the Court schedules a hearing, often within a year, and the matter is decided after a short hearing. In the General Procedure, the case moves through documentary and oral discovery, undertakings, possible expert evidence, and settlement discussions before any trial. Either way, most appeals settle before a hearing — a dynamic covered in Settling a Tax Court Appeal Before Trial — and if yours does go to a hearing, What to Expect at a Tax Court Hearing describes the day.
Common mistakes
- Missing the 90 days. The deadline runs from the date on the notice, not the date received. Calculate it immediately.
- Appealing without having objected. The objection is a prerequisite in almost every case.
- Confusing the deadline with the threshold. 90 days after a confirmation is a deadline; 90 days of CRA silence on an objection is merely a door that opens.
- A bare, conclusory pleading. "The reassessment is wrong" is not a notice of appeal. Set out the facts, the issues, the law, and the relief.
- Ignoring the assumptions. The notice of appeal should anticipate and engage the assumptions of fact the Crown will plead in its reply.
How we help
Barrett Tax Law prepares and files notices of appeal to the Tax Court of Canada under both the Informal and General Procedures, and conducts the appeal through to settlement or trial. Because the way an appeal is framed shapes everything that follows, the notice of appeal is drafted with the eventual hearing in mind. You can read more on our Tax Court of Canada page.