CRA Reassessment Period and Statute-Barred Date Checker
Three years from the notice of assessment for a CCPC, four for everyone else, and forever if the return was never filed. Work out which years the CRA can still open, what is at risk, and when the next one closes.
tax at risk, open years
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Year by Year
| Year | Notice of Assessment | Statute-Barred Date | Status |
|---|
What Sets the Period
| Factor | Effect | Applies to You |
|---|
Years That Never Close
| Situation | Why the Clock Never Starts |
|---|
Points That Decide This
What to Do Next
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Disclaimer: Under subsection 152(3.1) the normal reassessment period for a Canadian-controlled private corporation is three years from the day of sending of the original notice of assessment or notification that no tax is payable, and four years for any other corporation. The period runs from the assessment date rather than from the year end or the filing date, so two corporations with the same year end can have different statute-barred dates. Subsection 152(4)(b)(iii) extends the period by three years in respect of transactions with non-arm’s length non-residents, which includes transfer pricing adjustments. Under subsection 152(4)(a)(i) the Minister may reassess at any time where the taxpayer has made a misrepresentation attributable to neglect, carelessness or wilful default, or has committed fraud, and the burden of establishing that is on the Minister. Where no return has ever been filed for a year, no assessment has issued, no period has begun, and the year remains open indefinitely. A waiver on Form T2029 keeps a year open until six months after the waiver is revoked. Additional extensions apply in specific circumstances including carryback claims, reassessments consequential on another year, and certain listed transactions. Deadlines calculated here step back twelve months per year from the date entered and are indicative only, since actual assessment dates vary year to year. This page is general information, not tax advice.
The Clock Runs From the Assessment, Not the Year End
This is the detail that catches people. The normal reassessment period is measured from the date the CRA sent the original notice of assessment, not from your fiscal year end and not from the day you filed.
Two corporations with identical 31 December year ends can have statute-barred dates months apart, purely because one return was assessed in April and the other in September. If you want to know when a year closes, the notice of assessment is the document to find.
| Corporation Type | Normal Period | With Foreign Transactions |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian-controlled private corporation | 3 years | 6 years |
| Any other corporation | 4 years | 7 years |
Losing CCPC status costs you a year of certainty. A corporation that ceases to be Canadian-controlled, often through a foreign investment round, moves from three years to four. That is rarely part of the deal analysis and it should be.
An Unfiled Year Never Closes
The period only begins when an assessment issues. Where a return was never filed, no assessment ever issued, no clock ever started, and the year stays open indefinitely.
Owners sometimes assume that not filing eventually makes a problem go away. It does the opposite. Filing starts a three or four year clock that eventually gives you certainty. Not filing leaves the year permanently exposed, and the CRA can raise an arbitrary assessment under subsection 152(7) at any point.
Filing an old return is what buys you closure. A corporation four years behind that files everything today starts four clocks, and in three years those years are done. The same corporation that keeps not filing is exposed forever.
Misrepresentation Reopens Closed Years
Subsection 152(4) lets the CRA reassess a statute-barred year where there was a misrepresentation attributable to neglect, carelessness or wilful default, or fraud.
The bar is lower than people expect. It is not a fraud test. Carelessness is enough, and something as ordinary as failing to reconcile a shareholder loan account or omitting an obvious income source can support it.
What protects taxpayers is the burden of proof. The Minister has to establish the misrepresentation, and cannot simply assert it because a year turned out to be wrong. Where a position was taken thoughtfully on advice, with records to show it, reopening a closed year is difficult.
Never Sign a Waiver Without Advice
A waiver on Form T2029 keeps a year open indefinitely, until six months after you revoke it. The CRA usually asks for one when an audit is running out of time on the oldest year.
Sometimes signing is right, because it buys time to make your case rather than forcing the auditor to issue a protective reassessment on the worst-case numbers. Sometimes refusing is right, because the year closes and the exposure disappears.
| Situation | Usually |
|---|---|
| Your position is strong and just needs time to document | Signing can help |
| The auditor is fishing and the year is nearly closed | Do not sign |
| The waiver is drafted broadly across all issues | Narrow it or refuse |
A waiver can be limited to specific issues, and it should be. A waiver drafted to cover an entire year gives the CRA the whole file when the dispute is about one item. Narrowing it is normal, and an auditor asking for a broad waiver will usually accept a specific one.
Foreign Transactions Add Three Years
Where a year involves transactions with non-arm’s length non-residents, the period is extended by three years in respect of those transactions. That covers management fees to a parent, intercompany sales, royalties and loans.
The extension is not general. It applies to the foreign transactions rather than reopening the whole year for everything, though in practice a file being examined on transfer pricing tends to attract attention on other items too.
What to Do With an Open Year
- Find the notices of assessment for every open year, since the dates on them are the whole calculation
- Check the records still exist, because the six year retention requirement is not the same as the reassessment period
- Fix anything wrong before they find it, using a voluntary disclosure while one is still available
- File anything unfiled, because that is what starts the clock
- Do not sign a waiver without taking advice on that specific year
- Diarise the closing dates, since an audit that misses one loses that year
The reassessment period is a deadline that works in your favour, and it is the only one that does. Our audit support service covers the open-year analysis, the waiver decision and the representation.
What This Checker Does Not Cover
- GST/HST reassessment periods, which run on their own rules
- Payroll and trust account examinations, which are not bound by this at all
- Carryback claims, which extend the period for the year the loss is applied to
- Consequential reassessments flowing from an adjustment in another year
- The objection deadline, which is ninety days from the reassessment and separate
- Provincial reassessment where a province administers its own tax
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions on reassessment periods and statute-barred years.
Related Calculators and Guides
More tools for corporations under review.
Find Out Which Years Are Still Open
Send us the notices of assessment and we will map the statute-barred date for every year, tell you what is genuinely at risk, and advise on any waiver the CRA has put in front of you.