The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced that it will not seek leave to appeal the Federal Court of Appeal's decision in the BP Canada case. This means that the Court's decision to deny the CRA general and unrestricted access to a company's audit working papers that reveal uncertain tax positions will stand and the CRA will not have access to the papers solely as a road map to guide its audit activity. However, the CRA can still obtain these papers through a specific inquiry under its broad statutory powers to obtain information or documents that are relevant to a CRA audit. Overall, this is a welcome development that confirms the balance that the Federal Court of Appeal struck in its decision. For more on that decision, read my blog on the case here.
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