The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of National Revenue, today highlighted that Canadians who have been affected by devastating weather conditions can apply for relief from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) if they are having difficulty meeting their tax obligations because of extreme weather events.

“Our Government understands that severe weather events can prevent Canadians from meeting their tax obligations. Recently, Canadians from several regions, including British Columbia, the Yukon, and Saskatchewan, have had to rebuild because of events such as flooding and severe wind,” said Minister Shea. “The taxpayer relief provisions ensure that all Canadians receive fair tax treatment, while they are recovering from the damage resulting from natural catastrophes.”

All Canadians have access to the CRA’s taxpayer relief measures and will be considered for relief if they miss a payment or filing deadline because their lives were disrupted by uncontrollable weather events, including forest fires caused by lightning strikes, tornadoes, flooding, landslides and hurricanes.

The taxpayer relief provisions use a balanced approach to help taxpayers to resolve tax issues that arise through no fault of their own. Under these provisions, any taxpayer can apply to the CRA to have interest and/or penalties waived or cancelled in situations where they are unable to file a tax return and/or make a payment on time due to a natural disaster or other extraordinary circumstances beyond their control.. The CRA will consider these requests on a case-by-case basis.

Adequate records have to be kept by individuals, partnerships, corporations, organizations and trusts, as identified below:

persons carrying on a business or engaged in commercial activity;
persons required to pay or collect taxes or other amounts such as payroll deductions and goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) under the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Excise Act 2001, the Employment Insurance Act, the Canada Pension Plan, the Air Travellers Security Charge Act and the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006 (SLPECA);
persons required to file an income tax or GST/HST return;
persons who apply for GST/HST rebates or refunds;
payroll service providers;
trusts;
non-profit organizations;
a registered agent of a registered political party;
an official agent for a candidate in a federal election;
agents authorized under the Senate Appointment Consultation Act;
universities;
colleges;
municipal corporations;
hospitals;
school authorities; and
qualified donees such as:
a registered charity;
a registered Canadian amateur athletic association;
a housing corporation resident in Canada and exempt from tax under Part 1 of the ITA because of paragraph 149(1)(i) that has applied;
a municipality in Canada;
a municipal or public body performing a function of government in Canada that has applied;
a university outside Canada that is prescribed to be a university the student body of which ordinarily includes students from Canada; or
a charitable organization outside Canada to which Her Majesty in right of Canada has made a gift.