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Le Bureau « …offre une tribune neutre et impartiale pour accompagner notre clientèle dans le respect de ses droits et la résolution de ses différends. Son indépendance lui permet également de porter un regard critique sur certaines de nos décisions ou de nos façons de faire, ce qui permet à l’organisation de s’améliorer en continu. »                       

  - Mme Christyne Tremblay, présidente-directrice générale, Revenu Québec

An administrative body aiming for simple and rapid resolution of disputes thereby providing better access to justice for Quebec taxpayers, the Bureau de la protection des droits de la clientèle of Revenu Québec recently published its annual report for the period April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022 (available here).

In this report, the Bureau confirms that it received just over 7,500 requests for intervention during the period in question. The vast majority of these requests were redirected to other Revenu Québec services deemed more appropriate. Although only 1,353 requests were handled by the Bureau, this total represents a non-negligible increase over the previous period, which itself was part of a "heavy trend" of decrease since April 1, 2016. The majority of the requests for intervention, more than 70%, were lodged by individuals.

Subject to an average response time of approximately 44 days, slightly more than 40% of the files processed resulted in a partial or total modification of the decision initially made in favour of the person who lodged the request for intervention or complaint. It should be noted that total modifications (380 files) represent almost twice the number of partial modifications (202 files). The Bureau’s report also highlights "an increase in the percentage of requests for intervention and complaints deemed to be well-founded [...] rising from 28.4% in 2020-2021 to 34.2% in 2021-2022". This proportion is, in fact, the highest since the 2016-2017 period.

In light of the above figures, it is clear that the Bureau is indeed a complementary tool for taxpayers or their representatives trying to resolve a dispute with Revenu Québec in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Spiegel Sohmer's tax dispute resolution team strongly encourages the use of the Bureau’s services and is available to assist any taxpayer who wishes to file a request for intervention or complaint.