Section 303 — Excise Tax Act: Extension of time by Minister

Where no objection to an assessment is filed under section 301, or no request has been made under subsection 274(6), within the time limit otherwise provided, a person may make an application to the Minister to extend the time for filing a notice of objection or a request and the Minister may grant the application. An application made under subsection (1) shall set out the reasons why the notice of objection or the request was not filed within the time otherwise limited by this Part for doing so. An application under subsection (1) shall be made by delivering or mailing to the Chief of Appeals in a District Office or Taxation Centre of the Canada Revenue Agency the application accompanied by a copy of the notice of objection or a copy of the request, as the case may be. The Minister may accept an application under this section notwithstanding that it was not delivered or mailed to the person or place specified in subsection (3). On receipt of an application made under subsection (1), the Minister shall, with all due dispatch, consider the application and grant or refuse it, and shall thereupon notify the person of the decision by registered or certified mail. Where an application made under subsection (1) is granted, the notice of objection or the request shall be considered to have been filed on the day the decision of the Minister is mailed to the person. No application shall be granted under this section unless the application is made within one year after the expiration of the time otherwise limited by this Part for objecting or making a request under subsection 274(6), as the case may be; and the person demonstrates that within the time otherwise limited by this Part for objecting, the person was unable to act or to give a mandate to act in the person’s name, or the person had a bona fide intention to object to the assessment or make the request, given the reasons set out in the application and the circumstances of the case, it would be just and equitable to grant the application, and the application was made as soon as circumstances permitted it to be made.