Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure) (SOR/90-688a)

Whereas, pursuant to subsection 22(3)Footnote ^* of the Tax Court of Canada Act, the rules committee of the Tax Court of Canada published a notice of the proposed revocation of the Tax Review Board Rules, C.R.C., c. 1513, and the Tax Court of Canada Rules of Practice and Procedure for the Award of Costs (Income Tax Act)Footnote ^**, except in respect of any appeals or proceedings instituted before January 1, 1991, and a copy of the proposed Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure) and the proposed Tax Court of Canada Rules (Informal Procedure), substantially in the form annexed hereto, in the Canada Gazette Part I on April 21, 1990, and invited any interested person to make representations to the rules committee with respect thereto;

• Return to footnote ^*R.S., c. 51 (4th Supp.), s. 7

• Return to footnote ^**SOR/85-119, 1985 Canada Gazette Part II, p. 1021

Therefore, the rules committee of the Tax Court of Canada, pursuant to section 20Footnote ^*** of the Tax Court of Canada Act and subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, hereby

• Return to footnote ^***R.S., c. 51 (4th Supp.), s. 6

• (a) revokes, effective January 1, 1991, the Tax Review Board Rules, C.R.C., c. 1513, and the Tax Court of Canada Rules of Practice and Procedure for the Award of Costs (Income Tax Act), approved by Order in Council P.C. 1985-183 on January 24, 1985Footnote ^**, except in respect of any appeals or proceedings instituted before January 1, 1991; and

• (b) makes, effective January 1, 1991, the annexed Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure) and Tax Court of Canada Rules (Informal Procedure), in substitution therefor.

Dated this 7th day of September 1990

J.-C. Couture, Chief Judge	D. H. Christie, Associate Chief Judge
M. J. Bonner	A. Garon
Helen C. Turner	Maurice Regnier, Q.C.

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, pursuant to subsection 20(1)Footnote ^* of the Tax Court of Canada Act, is pleased hereby to approve

• (a) the revocation, by the rules committee of the Tax Court of Canada, effective January 1, 1991, of the Tax Review Board Rules, C.R.C., c. l5l3, and the Tax Court of Canada Rules of Practice and Procedure for the Award of Costs (Income Tax Act), approved by Order in Council P.C. 1985-183 on January 24, 1985Footnote ^**, except in respect of any appeals or proceedings instituted before January 1, 1991; and

• (b) the making, by the rules committee of the Tax Court of Canada, effective January 1, 1991, of the Tax Court of Canada Rules (General Procedure) and the Tax Court of Canada Rules (Informal Procedure), in substitution therefor.

• Return to footnote ^*R.S., c. 51 (4th Supp.), s. 6

• Return to footnote ^**SOR/85-119, 1985 Canada Gazette Part II, p. 1021

Definitions, Application, Interpretation, Forms, Videoconferences and Teleconferences

1 [Repealed, SOR/2014-26, s. 1]

Definitions

2 In these rules,

Act

Act means the Tax Court of Canada Act; (Loi)

assessment

assessment includes a determination, a redetermination, a reassessment, and an additional assessment; (cotisation)

counsel

counsel means every person who by virtue of subsection 17.1(2) of the Act, may practise in the Court; (avocat)

counsel of record

counsel of record means the person who by virtue of sections 30 to 34 is the counsel of record for a party; (avocat inscrit au dossier)

Court

Court means the Tax Court of Canada; (Cour)

electronic filing

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)

fax

fax means to transmit a facsimile of printed matter electronically or a document so transmitted; (télécopie)

Hague Convention on Service Abroad

Hague Convention on Service Abroad means the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters signed at the Hague on November 15, 1965; (Convention de La Haye relative à la signification et à la notification à l’étranger)

interlocutory application

interlocutory application includes an application to extend time under these rules or to dismiss an appeal for want of prosecution or for failure to comply with a statutory condition precedent to instituting a valid appeal or on the ground that the Court has no jurisdiction to entertain an appeal for some other reason; (requête interlocutoire)

judgment

judgment includes an order; (jugement)

litigation process conference

litigation process conference means

• (a) a status hearing under section 125,

• (b) a case management conference under subsection 126(2),

• (c) a trial management conference under section 126.1, or

• (d) a settlement conference under section 126.2; (conférence dans le cadre d’une instance)

notice of objection

notice of objection means a notice of objection referred to in the Income Tax Act or the Petroleum and Gas Revenue Tax Act; (avis d’opposition)

originating document

originating document means a document that is filed under section 21; (acte introductif d’instance)

proceeding

proceeding means an appeal or reference; (instance)

Registrar

Registrar means the person appointed as Registrar of the Court by the Chief Administrator of the Courts Administration Service in consultation with the Chief Justice; (greffier)

Registry

Registry means the Registry established by the Chief Administrator of the Courts Administration Service at the principal office of the Court at 200 Kent Street, 2nd Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0M1 (telephone: (613) 992-0901 or 1-800-927-5499; fax: (613) 957-9034; website: www.tcc-cci.gc.ca) or at any other local office of the Court specified in notices published by the Court. (greffe)

Application

3 These rules apply to all proceedings in the Court to which the general procedure in the Act applies.

Interpretation

• 4 (1) These rules shall be liberally construed to secure the just, most expeditious and least expensive determination of every proceeding on its merits.

• (2) Where matters are not provided for in these rules, the practice shall be determined by the Court, either on a motion for directions or after the event if no such motion has been made.

Forms

5 The forms in Schedule I shall be used where applicable and with such variations as the circumstances require.

Hearings by Videoconference or Teleconference

6 The Court may direct that any step in a proceeding be conducted by teleconference, by videoconference or by a combination of both and may specify the party responsible for establishing the communication.

Associate Judges

• 6.1 (1) An associate judge of the Court has all the powers of a judge of the Court under these Rules.

• (2) Any associate judge may sit and act at any time and at any place in Canada for the transaction of the business of the Court, and, where the associate judge so sits or acts, that associate judge constitutes the Court.

Non-compliance with the Rules

Effect of Non-compliance

7 A failure to comply with these rules is an irregularity and does not render a proceeding or a step, document or direction in a proceeding a nullity, and the Court,

• (a) may grant all necessary amendments or other relief, on such terms as are just, to secure the just determination of the real matters in dispute, or

• (b) only where and as necessary in the interests of justice, may set aside the proceeding or a step, document or direction in the proceeding in whole or in part.

Attacking Irregularity

8 A motion to attack a proceeding or a step, document or direction in a proceeding for irregularity shall not be made,

• (a) after the expiry of a reasonable time after the moving party knows or ought reasonably to have known of the irregularity, or

• (b) if the moving party has taken any further step in the proceeding after obtaining knowledge of the irregularity,

except with leave of the Court.

Court may Dispense with Compliance

9 The Court may, where and as necessary in the interests of justice, dispense with compliance with any rule at any time.

Remedying Default

10 When a notice of motion for a direction under section 91 or section 110 has been filed and served, the person or party against whom the motion is made may not, without the consent of the other party or leave of the Court, remedy any default on the basis of which relief is sought by such proposed motion.

Time

Computation

11 In the computation of time under these rules or a direction, except where a contrary intention appears,

• (a) where the time limited for the doing of a thing expires or falls on a holiday or a Saturday, the thing may be done on the day next following that is not a holiday or Saturday, and

• (b) the period beginning on December 21 in any year and ending on January 7 of the next year shall be excluded.

Extension or Abridgement

• 12 (1) The Court may extend or abridge any time prescribed by these rules or a direction, on such terms as are just.

• (2) A motion for a direction extending time may be made before or after the expiration of the time prescribed.

• (3) A time prescribed by these rules for filing, serving or delivering a document may be extended or abridged by consent in writing.

Hearing in Absence of Opposite Party

13 No motion, examination, taxation of costs or other matter except a motion made without notice, shall proceed before a judge or an officer in the absence of the opposite party until thirty minutes after the time fixed for it.

Court Office Hours

14 Unless otherwise directed by the Chief Justice, every office of the Court shall be open for the transaction of business each day except holidays and Saturdays, from 9 in the forenoon until 5 o’clock in the afternoon, and at such other times as the Court may, for special reason, direct.

Court Documents

Format

15 A document prepared for use in a proceeding shall be of good quality paper, 215 mm in width and not exceeding 279 mm in length and the text shall be printed, typewritten, written or reproduced legibly on one side only, with double spaces between the lines and a margin of approximately 40 mm on the left-hand side.

Photocopies of Court Documents

16 Subject to any order that the Court, in special circumstances, may make restricting access to a particular file by persons other than the parties to a matter before the Court, any person may, subject to appropriate supervision, and when the facilities of the Court permit without interfering with the ordinary work of the Court,

• (a) inspect any Court file relating to a matter before the Court; and

• (b) on payment of $0.40 per page, obtain a photocopy of any document on a Court file.

Confidentiality Order

• 16.1 (1) On motion, the Court may order that a document or part of a document shall be treated as confidential at the time of filing of the document or part of the document and determines the conditions in relation to its reproduction, destruction and non-disclosure.

• (2) Where the Court makes an order pursuant to subsection (1), a party or solicitor of record may have access to the confidential document or part of the confidential document only on conditions determined by the Court in relation to its reproduction, destruction and non-disclosure.

• (3) The order remains in effect until the Court orders otherwise.

Notice to be in Writing

17 Where these rules require notice to be given, it shall be given in writing.

Filing of Documents

• 18 (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.

• (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 of filing; or

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

• (3) Except as otherwise provided in these rules and unless otherwise directed by the Court, where 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.

• (4) 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.

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