Tips when Dealing With CRA Part 6

In my previous blogs, I have discussed 9 tactics used by the CRA and how to deal with them.  There are a few more that you should know about. Read on . .

10. Notional Assessments – If you don’t file for  a period of time CRA may come up with an amount that you owe.  The amount that they come up with is typically much more than you would owe.  You must contest these amounts and get your filing up to date so CRA has accurate numbers and don’t go off of the ones they made up!

11. Corporate Director’s Liability – A shareholder of a corporation does not take the liability, but the director does.  By signing on as a director you are taking the responsibility of all CRA debts even if the corporation closes.  To avoid this, the director of the corporation can be someone who doesn’t own title to any assets that CRA can lien, nor have any income that CRA can garnish.

12. Loss of Documentation – Occasionally CRA loses documentation.  If you have given them originals it is too late at this point.  If you have to prove your case you now can’t because you don’t have original documents.  To solve this issue, never give CRA original documents instead give them copies when they request documentation from you.  Alternatively you could meet them somewhere with your documentation so they can review it on the spot, without taking it.  Even better, let them meet with your accountant!

CRA does have a lot of power and can access all kinds of information on you.  You must know your rights, which are found on the taxpayer bill of rights.  You must know how to deal with them.  You must also know that you can have an authorized representative that can deal with them on your behalf.  And again, do everything in writing with them!

Tips when Dealing With CRA Part 5

We have been discussing some of the tactics used by CRA and how to deal with them. So far we’ve gone through 5 of them. Here are some more:

6. Confusion – Because the CRA is so big and has so many departments in different cities, you may find that more than 1 person is dealing with your file or you may find your file gets passed from one department/city to another without you even knowing it. You also may find that one CRA agent will tell you one thing, but another CRA agent tells you something different. This is yet another reason to deal with CRA in writing. Putting things in writing clarifies things and can assist in holding parties accountable.

7. Coercion – CRA may Coerce you to pay even when you don’t think you owe anything. A CRA collector is just doing their job – collect from people. If you don’t agree with their assessment, appeal! If your file is in appeal, they are not allowed to collect the amount from you as it is not confirmed as owing until the appeal is completed. You can utilize the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to help in understanding your rights here.

8. Garnishees – If amounts are confirmed as owing CRA could garnish your pay cheques. If you do owe an amount to CRA, then make arrangements with them. If you make arrangements and stick to your arrangements then they will not typically garnish you. This is mostly for people on payroll (employees)

9. Liens on property – CRA may go as far as putting a lien on your property so if you ever sold it, they would get paid. To avoid this don’t own properties in the name that has the liability. If you do work that can incur liability then have your spouse own the property or own it in a trust.

I will discuss more on my next blog!