加拿大稅務法院已確認該國稅局中不存在任何會計師-客戶特權，並命令會計師出示與客戶相關的文件（Coopers v Canada Revenue Agency, 2024 TCC 122）。它駁回了納稅人對律師-客戶特權的大部分主張，包括部分修改的訂婚信、信件和電子郵件、帶有圖表和手寫符號的戰略文件，以及包含「法律意見的特徵」但不屬於納稅人給律師的委託書範圍的文件。然而委員會同意：當會計師作為客戶的代表或代理人向律師取得法律意見時，律師與客戶之間的特權將適用。
CANADA: Court confirms no privilege for client's communications with accountant
The Tax Court of Canada has confirmed the absence of any accountant-client privilege in the country's tax law and ordered the production of an accountant's client-related documents (Coopers v Canada Revenue Agency, 2024 TCC 122). It dismissed most of the taxpayer's claim for solicitor-client privilege, including a partially redacted engagement letter; letters and emails; strategy documents with diagrams and handwritten notations; and documents that contained the 'hallmarks of a legal opinion' but fell outside the scope of the engagement letter from the taxpayer to its lawyers. However, it agreed that solicitor-client privilege applies where an accountant acts as a representative or agent for a client in obtaining legal advice from a solicitor.
Sources:
Miller Thomson
Tax Court of Canada