The Informal Procedure is a streamlined track at the Tax Court of Canada for smaller or simpler appeals. It is generally available where the federal tax and penalties at issue for a year are $25,000 or less, where the disputed loss is $50,000 or less, or where the dispute relates only to interest. A taxpayer may also elect it in certain narrow cases.
The track features simpler pleadings, limited discovery, and modest costs awards, and its decisions do not bind future Tax Court cases. It tends to suit files where the amount in dispute would be outweighed by full-procedure costs, where the legal issues are straightforward, or where the taxpayer is self-representing. Larger or more complex files are usually better suited to the General Procedure.