Published: March 5, 2020
Last Updated: October 25, 2021
Supreme Court of Canada Rules that Restriction on Solicitor-Client privilege in Income Tax Act Unconstitutional
The Supreme Court of Canada released 2 related cases on Jun 3, 2016, both dealing with the requirement for Canadian lawyers to release records to CRA pursuant to Income Tax Act subsection 231.2(1) demands. The result of the ruling is that Canadian lawyers do not have to respond to such demands to release their records. Furthermore the exception to privilege for a lawyer’s accounting records set out in the definition of “solicitor‑client privilege” in subsection 232(1) was found to be unconstitutional and invalid.
Disclaimer:
"This article provides information of a general nature only. It is only current at the posting date. It is not updated and it may no longer be current. It does not provide legal advice nor can it or should it be relied upon. All tax situations are specific to their facts and will differ from the situations in the articles. If you have specific legal questions you should consult a lawyer."