Tax Tip Thursday

Well, we are just about at the end of tax season! Sole proprietorship filings are due today and the vast majority of the corporate tax returns are due at the end of the month!

Now that tax season is finally over, part 2 begins – Audit season! The government starts asking questions.

Read Your Mail!

So your tax tip of the week is, to make sure you open AND READ all your mail (ESPECIALLY FROM CRA) and make sure you take action based on what the mail is asking of you.

For the last few years, the focus has been on home office expenses and automobile expenses. I don’t think that is going to go away, but I am seeing a lot of pre-assessment reviews for sole proprietors and partnership returns, specifically for the HST rebate.

We have also been seeing a lot of reviews on disability tax credits and support payments, so make sure you have your documentation lined up!

What to Do

If you get CRA mail, please open it.

If it is a request for information, in almost all circumstances, you have 30 days to respond. BUT, the vast majority of the documents sent by the CRA are assessments, notices indicating filing dates, changes to your account, access codes, changes to filing dates (in the case of the last year), reminders to pay installments, acknowledgment of payments and of course Reviews and Audits.

While audit is a very understood word, they rarely happen. Reviews are much more common than most people are faced with.

Please keep in mind a review is usually not that intrusive and is primarily a request for additional information supporting what was filed on your income tax return.

For the latest onslaught of reviews, there are a few schedules that need to be provided and that is about it. Most of the information is available in your tax return.

Take Action

So if you get a letter, please do yourself a huge favour and deal with it ASAP. If you don’t think you can deal with it, call me and we can deal with it together. It will cost you a few dollars, but I can promise you, it will cost you a lot less than if you do nothing!

If you do not respond within 30 days, they will disallow the deductions or rebates in question and you will be out of pocket hundreds or thousands of dollars that you are legitimately entitled to.

I heard a bit of a horror story today. Guy came into my office saying he was MAD at an accountant. I was a little apprehensive to talk to him at first.

Turns out, he has been sent brown envelopes for 7 years! While he did open them, unfortunately, the person that he took them too, did nothing about it. It was a very simple review. They were looking for rent receipts to allow his trillium benefits. So as a result of literally not sending in his rent receipts, he has lost his trillium benefits for the last 7 years AND he actually owes them $1200. We will be fixing it for him, this all could have been avoided by having the first one dealt with in the first place.

Please open your mail and take action right then and there!

Getting Reviewed?

Take a deep breath. It’s probably not a big deal! Just follow the instructions in the envelope and carry on. Or, if you’re looking for a professional opinion on the matter, we are happy to help! Book an appointment today.

Disclaimer:

This article provides information of a general nature only. It is only current at the posting date. It is not updated and it may no longer be current. It does not provide legal or tax advice nor can it or should it be relied upon. All tax situations are specific to each individual. If you have specific tax questions you should book an appointment for a 1 on 1 consultation.