Section 222 — Income Tax Act: Definitions

The following definitions apply in this section. action means an action to collect a tax debt of a taxpayer and includes a proceeding in a court and anything done by the Minister under subsection 129(2), 131(3), 132(2) or 164(2), section 203 or any provision of this Part. ( action ) tax debt means any amount payable by a taxpayer under this Act. ( dette fiscale ) A tax debt is a debt due to Her Majesty and is recoverable as such in the Federal Court or any other court of competent jurisdiction or in any other manner provided by this Act. The Minister may not commence an action to collect a tax debt after the end of the limitation period for the collection of the tax debt. The limitation period for the collection of a tax debt of a taxpayer begins if a notice of assessment, or a notice referred to in subsection 226(1), in respect of the tax debt is sent to or served on the taxpayer, after March 3, 2004, on the day that is 90 days after the day on which the last one of those notices is sent or served, and if subparagraph (i) does not apply and the tax debt was payable on March 4, 2004, or would have been payable on that date but for a limitation period that otherwise applied to the collection of the tax debt, on March 4, 2004; and ends, subject to subsection (8), on the day that is 10 years after the day on which it begins. The limitation period described in subsection (4) for the collection of a tax debt of a taxpayer restarts (and ends, subject to subsection (8), on the day that is 10 years after the day on which it restarts) on any day, before it would otherwise end, on which the taxpayer acknowledges the tax debt in accordance with subsection (6); the Minister commences an action to collect the tax debt; or the Minister, under subsection 159(3) or 160(2) or paragraph 227(10)(a), assesses any person in respect of the tax debt. A taxpayer acknowledges a tax debt if the taxpayer promises, in writing, to pay the tax debt; makes a written acknowledgement of the tax debt, whether or not a promise to pay can be inferred from the acknowledgement and whether or not it contains a refusal to pay; or makes a payment, including a purported payment by way of a negotiable instrument that is dishonoured, on account of the tax debt. For the purposes of this section, an acknowledgement made by a taxpayer’s agent or legal representative has the same effect as if it were made by the taxpayer. In computing the day on which a limitation period ends, there shall be added the number of days on which one or more of the following is the case: the Minister may not, because of any of subsections 225.1(2) to (5), take any of the actions described in subsection 225.1(1) in respect of the tax debt; the Minister has accepted and holds security in lieu of payment of the tax debt; if the taxpayer was resident in Canada on the applicable date described in paragraph (4)(a) in respect of the tax debt, the taxpayer is non-resident; or an action that the Minister may otherwise take in respect of the tax debt is restricted or not permitted under any provision of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act , of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or of the Farm Debt Mediation Act . Notwithstanding any law of Canada or a province, Her Majesty is not liable for any claim that arises because the Minister collected a tax debt after the end of any limitation period that applied to the collection of the tax debt and before March 4, 2004. Notwithstanding any order or judgment made after March 3, 2004 that declares a tax debt not to be payable by a taxpayer, or that orders the Minister to reimburse to a taxpayer a tax debt collected by the Minister, because a limitation period that applied to the collection of the tax debt ended before royal assent to any measure giving effect to this section, the tax debt is deemed to have become payable on March 4, 2004.