Forest Revenue Audit Program – Appeals

Under the Forest Act 2006, you have the right to appeal an assessment or penalty assessed under Part 11.1 of the Act.

	Appeal Process
	Appeals to the Minister
	Appeals to the Court
	Amount Payable while Assessment is under Appeal

There are two levels of appeal:

1. appeal to the Minister of Finance
2. appeal to the Court

To file a formal appeal, you must serve a notice of appeal on the Minister of Small Business and Revenue within 90 days of the date of the decision being appealed. If sent by mail or courier, it must be received by the ministry within
the 90-day period. A separate notice of appeal must be filed for each decision being disputed.

The notice of appeal must be in writing and sent to:

The Minister of Finance
PO BOX 9629 STN PROV GOVT
VICTORIA BC  V8W 9N6

Please be sure to clearly state the following:

• your name and address
• the decision in dispute
• the date of the Notice of Assessment
• the reasons for the appeal
• the facts on which the appeal is based

The Minister will consider the matter, and then amend, rescind, or affirm the assessment and notify you of the decision.

If you are in disagreement with the Minister's decision, you may further appeal the matter to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

An appeal to the Court is started by filing a petition under the Supreme Court Rules. The petition must be filed in the Supreme Court Registry within 90 days of the date of the Minister's notification of decision.

The Crown is named in the petition as "Her Majesty The Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia".

Within 14 days of filing the petition, it must be served on the Attorney General in Victoria. You can:

• leave it with a solicitor on the staff of the Attorney General at 11th Floor - 1001 Douglas Street in Victoria during office hours
• mail it by registered mail to the Deputy Attorney General in Victoria

The address for the Deputy Attorney General in Victoria is:

PO BOX 9280 STN PROV GOVT
VICTORIA BC  V8W 9J7

If you are in disagreement with the decision of the Supreme Court, you may seek leave to appeal the court decision to the Court of Appeal from a justice of that court.

The amount assessed is payable even though an appeal has been filed. Please direct any enquiries concerning payment of the outstanding liability to the Forest Revenue Branch.

In cases where the Minister's or Court's decision reduces the amount assessed, the overpayment is refunded with applicable interest.