Guides · Written by a Canadian CPA · Not legal or tax advice
The taxpayer relief 10-year limit, explained
Ask for relief too late and the CRA has no authority to grant it at all. The catch is that the 10-year limit runs on two different clocks — one keyed to the tax year, one to the years interest accrued. Here is each clock, with worked examples.
Two clocks, not one
The 10-year limit in the taxpayer relief provisions (IC07-1R1, paragraphs 12 to 15.5) does not run the same way for penalties as it does for interest. Which clock applies depends on what you are asking the CRA to cancel or waive. Past either limit, the Minister of National Revenue has no authority to grant relief — it is not a matter of discretion. Both clocks roll forward every January 1, so a year of eligibility drops away every year. For the rest of the relief process, see taxpayer relief: how it works.
Clock one: penalties follow the tax year
For relief other than interest relief, the Minister may grant relief for any tax year (or fiscal period, for a partnership) that ended within 10 years before the calendar year in which the request is made. Put the other way around: you have 10 years from the end of the calendar year in which the tax year or fiscal period at issue ended to make your request. This is the clock that governs a request to cancel or waive a penalty.
Worked example. A first request made in 2026 must be for a tax year that ended in 2016 or later. A penalty assessed for the 2015 tax year is outside the limit — the Minister has no authority to cancel it, however sympathetic the circumstances. (The CRA’s own circular gives the same example one decade back: a first request made in 2017 had to be for the 2007 or later tax year.)
Clock two: interest follows the years it accrued
Interest relief is administered differently, following the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Bozzer v Canada, 2011 FCA 186. The Minister may grant relief only from interest that accrued during the 10 calendar years before the year the request is made — and, when a request is made, the CRA will also consider the interest that accrued during the calendar year the request was made. The age of the underlying tax debt does not matter; what matters is when the interest accrued.
Worked example. Say you owe tax for the 2013 tax year, and in 2026 you make your first request for interest relief. The CRA can consider the interest that accrued from January 1, 2016 onward: the 10 calendar years before 2026, plus the interest accruing in 2026 itself. Interest that accrued in 2015 or earlier cannot be cancelled. The circular’s own example is the mirror image: a tax debt for the 2004 tax year, a first request in 2017, and relief available for the interest that accrued from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2016 — but not for interest that accrued before 2007.
One request, two tests
If a single request covers both a penalty and interest for the same tax year, each part is tested under its own clock: the penalty part must be made no later than 10 years after the end of the calendar year in which the tax year ended, and the interest part reaches only the interest that accrued inside its 10-year window. A request can therefore succeed for recent interest on an old year while the penalty for that same year is already out of reach.
Protective requests: file before the clock runs out
Sometimes the amounts are not final as the limit approaches — the CRA may issue an assessment or reassessment in a later year for a tax year under audit, or an objection or appeal you filed may still be unresolved. In that situation, the CRA says you should send in a protective request for potential relief, to make sure the request is made before the 10-year time limit expires. The details and supporting documentation needed to complete the request can be sent later, after the audit or the formal dispute process is done.
Do not wait for the other process to finish
Because neither clock pauses, waiting for an objection or appeal to conclude before asking for relief can quietly use up your relief window. If both processes apply to you, the protective request is the bridge: it preserves the relief request while the dispute runs its course. Keep the two processes distinct — see RC4288 vs. a notice of objection — and, when you are ready to file, Form RC4288, section by section.
Common questions
Does the 10-year limit run from the date of my assessment?
No. For penalties, the limit runs from the end of the calendar year in which the tax year ended. For interest, it runs by the calendar years in which the interest accrued. The date on a notice of assessment is not the starting point for either clock.
I owe tax from 2013. Can a request made in 2026 still help me?
Possibly, for interest. A request made in 2026 can reach interest that accrued in 2016 or later, even on an older tax debt. But a penalty for the 2013 tax year is outside the limit, because that tax year ended more than 10 years before the year of the request.
What is a protective request?
A request you send before the 10-year limit expires when the amounts are not yet final — for example, while an audit, objection, or appeal is still unresolved. The CRA says the details and supporting documents needed to complete the request can be sent later, once that process is finished.
Does the 10-year limit ever pause?
The CRA's circular does not provide for a pause. The limitation period rolls forward every January 1, and once a tax year or an interest-accrual year falls outside the window, the Minister has no authority to grant relief for it. A protective request is how you protect your position while another process is running.
Check the official sources
Reviewed October 18, 2026. General information only; check the current instructions and your notice before filing.