Where can I find technical interpretations for the Income Tax Act?

Last revised May 04, 2023

Canada Revenue Agency documents such as technical interpretation bulletins, memos and correspondence with taxpayers and advisors form a type of "grey literature" which can be helpful tools in researching Canadian income tax law. While not being full statements of the law, they carry persuasive weight about how income tax laws are applied.

Below is a list of where to find these resources in print and online.

Print Resources

Income tax act,  annotated (available in most courthouse libraries) references relevant interpretation bulletins and technical news for individual sections of the Income Tax act, but does not include complete versions of the bulletins, news, etc.
 

Income Tax Information Circular (ICs) (available in Vancouver courthouse library, 1970-1998) provide information about administrative, enforcement, or procedural matters relating to income tax law, such as collections policies and the voluntary disclosure program. Digital access is available (see under Online Resources section).

Income Tax Interpretation Bulletin (ITs), formerly, Interpretation Bulletin (available in Vancouver courthouse library, 1973-1998), give the CRA's technical interpretation and position on certain provisions contained in income tax law.

• Courthouse Library print collection contains IT-1 to IT-529, except for IT-61, which was cancelled by IT-61R. A copy of IT-61 (dated August 16, 1972) can be found in the Canada Gazette Pt. I, No. 38, v. 106, Saturday, September 16, 1972, under heading: Department of National Revenue Taxation, pages 2658-2663.
• Digital access is available (see under Online Resources section).

Income Tax Technical News (ITTNs) (available in Vancouver courthouse library, 1994-2000) provides the CRA's technical interpretation of various provisions of income tax law. 

Canada Income Tax Guide (available in the Victoria courthouse library) and Canadian Tax Reporter (available in the Vancouver courthouse library) both include the complete information circulars, interpretation bulletins, and technical news as issued by the Canada Revenue Agency.

Each publication type has a topical index and numerical list. The bulletins and news also have a list for the corresponding sections in the Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c. 1 (5th Supp.).

The Access Letter: the newsletter of Access to Canadian income tax. (available at Queen's University, University of Ottawa, and York University Libraries) Available for select years in the 1990's only.

Online Resources

The CRA provides access to a variety of publications from the Current Publications page on their website.  Using the Forms and Publications page, you can also find CRA information by topic, document type or publication number.

Income Tax Information Circular (ICs) provide information about administrative, enforcement, or procedural matters relating to income tax law, such as collections policies and the voluntary disclosure program.

Income Tax Interpretation Bulletin (ITs), formerly, Interpretation Bulletin,  give the CRA's technical interpretation and position on certain provisions contained in income tax law. These will eventually be replaced by relevant Folios. Effective September 30, 2012, all previously archived ITs were cancelled and removed from the CRA website.

Income Tax Technical News (ITTNs) provides the CRA's technical interpretation of various provisions of income tax law.  These are also being gradually replaced with the Folios.  As part of an initiative to remove outdated and redundant information from the CRA Web site, all previously archived ITTNs were removed from the website effective September 30, 2012.
The replacement process is expected to take place over a number of years. As the updated information is published, any related Interpretation Bulletins and ITTNs will be cancelled.

Income Tax Folios (Folios) are web-friendly technical publications that update the information in the income tax interpretation bulletins (IT bulletin) and income tax technical news (ITTN). They give the CRA's technical interpretation and position on certain provisions contained in the Income Tax Act.  Over time, these will replace related Income Tax Interpretation Bulletins and Income Tax Technical News. For additional information, refer to Introducing income tax folios and the Interpretation bulletin - income tax folio table of concordance.