Canada Revenue Agency

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How to avoid the Crash and Burn

You are officially caught on CRA’s radar…

  • CRA is auditing or reviewing your information
  • Your filings have been arbitrarily re-assessed
  • The collections department is harassing you

No matter what the reason, dealing with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) can be extremely stressful.

Here are some tips to help ease that CRA audit pain.

What are your responsibilities?

By law, you have to keep adequate books and records to determine your tax obligations and your entitlements. Generally, books and records must be kept for a minimum of six years.

If you use a computer for your accounting records, you must keep your books and records in an electronically readable format, even if you also keep them on paper. Using the services of a tax professional does not relieve you of your responsibilities.

For an audit, you must make available to the auditor all of your relevant records (both paper and electronic) and supporting documents, and provide complete and timely explanations to the auditor’s questions. Failure to provide required books and records is an offence under the law.

Source: canada.ca

1. Do NOT Ignore them.

The problem will not go away. Keep the lines of communication open. Return phone calls even if the only thing you have to say is “I’m working on it”.

2. Deal with any requests or incorrect assessments ASAP as they are often very time-sensitive.

If you ignore requests and CRA re-assesses you, it can take several months to correct AND if you ignore them long enough, the problem may become unfixable.

CRA Audit Client Examples

a. I had a trucking company referred to me. He was behind on GST filings and CRA Factually assessed him. The client had opted to bury his head in the sand. The returns became statute-barred and CRA refused to reassess them. I luckily found a reasonable auditor to re-open the files and managed to save my (very happy) client $80,000.

CRA Factually assessed – If you don’t file your GST file on time, the CRA can arbitrarily access you and send you a bill.

b. In another case, (again, before he was my client) an automotive mechanic shop company underwent a payroll audit. The business owner and (non-CPA) accountant at the time didn’t respond properly to queries. CRA incorrectly assessed over $100,000 owing in source deductions. They were referred to me. It took over a year of fighting with CRA to have them amend their assessment to the correct balance owing of only $4,000. In the meantime, their corporate bank accounts were seized. Again, if it would have been dealt with properly in the first place, it would have never been an issue.

3. Enlist your Chartered Professional Accountant in dealing with CRA.

Generally, I’m the one who responds to my client’s CRA queries. If the client is preparing the response, I review it before it is sent in. In the case of an on-site audit, I prefer to gather the records and host the auditor in my own boardroom. This eliminates any intimidation factor.

Quite often, the accountant will know exactly what the auditor is looking for and be able to provide the facts and only the facts to get the issue resolved as efficiently as possible. The last thing you want is a simple review request for payroll to turn into a GST audit, personal benefit assessments, disallowed expenses… the list goes on.

Sometimes just a slight change in terminology can drastically change the audit outcome.

I had a trucking company client go through a review to determine whether a subcontracted driver was an employee. If the contractor was determined to be an employee, my client would have been liable for over $20K in payroll taxes. My client kept referring to the contractor in employee terms even though the nature of the arrangement was leaning toward the contractor. Had I not been able to pre-screen and rephrase his responses to the appropriate terminology, the client would have ended up with a nasty bill.

4. CRA isn’t always right.

I know…it’s shocking indeed. You want someone in your corner who understands taxes to be able to argue on your behalf.

I had a client undergo a GST audit. The auditor (who appeared somewhat inexperienced) proposed an assessment of over $20,000 owing. Upon review of his supporting paperwork, I successfully argued the GST owing down to less than $2,000.

Do you need help in dealing with a CRA issue? We’re happy to help!

 

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Covid Thoughts

  1. Jazz Hands.

    That’s right. No auto-correct here—I meant it. With many cities implementing mandatory masks in public, we are missing out on a significant portion of our non-verbal communication options. Many of us can admit to over exaggerating our squinty eyes in attempts to convey that we are in fact smiling. Since Covid-19 is apparently here for the long haul, perhaps we need to consider implementing a universal sign that we are smiling without purposefully deepening our crows-feet (which, going forward, will likely be known as smiling mask wrinkles).

  2. Extended Deadlines.

    I recently visited my dental hygienist for the first time since lock down hit. After my teeth cleaning, I re-booked the appointment for six months later. In six months, it’ll be the end of March 2021! This realization was a bit of a smack in the face. In six short months, we’ll be doing our personal taxes all over again! This point is specifically for the procrastinators out there. Be aware that it’s almost time to do your 2020 personal taxes… even though you JUST finished your 2019 taxes. Perhaps you completed them earlier but JUST paid them. That next tax bill isn’t very far away. For many individuals (corporate filers included), the deadline extension has skewed the sense of urgency/timing/responsibility. Don’t procrastinate. Get ‘er done. Be on time. Missing deadlines may result in penalties, interest, missed incentive opportunities and delayed family tax credits.

  3. Covid-19 Incentives.

    Back in March and April, many folks got caught up in the government incentives and handouts. I’d encourage everyone to re-visit the CRA website to double check those programs. Over the last few months, the criteria has evolved and the website has been updated continuously. Did you actually qualify for that incentive? Perhaps you first thought you didn’t qualify but now you do. If you didn’t actually qualify but have received money, there are options to repay that money (via My Account and My Business Account on CRA online). Rest assured that CRA will be reviewing all who have received incentives to ensure eligibility.

  4. Creativity

    I’m impressed with the resiliency of entrepreneurs in Alberta. So many businesses have taken this setback and have quickly revised processes/systems and products/services to survive and or thrive. Thankfully this pandemic has hit when we have the technology to work from home. Could you imagine if this happened in 1985? Check out my article on how home offices impact your tax return. On the other hand, there are many businesses that have become victims of the lockdowns. This is truly heartbreaking. If you fall into this category, do continue to talk to your professional accountant to determine your filing responsibilities and opportunities to claim any losses.

If you need advice on COVID-19 issues with your business, please reach out! We’re happy to help. Contact us today.

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Being the Boss is a Lot of Work!

What does CRA require of an employer?

If you are a business owner and have employees, you know the challenges that can come with managing people. Hiring the right people, maintaining schedules, workloads, employment standards, and conflict resolution can be challenging and unpredictable. But making sure you are onside with Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) employer responsibilities doesn’t have to be.

Let’s break this down into three sections: Set up, process and report:

1. Set up:

You must have a payroll account registered with CRA and you can do this online using CRA online account registration.

Once you have the right candidate for your business you must get them to complete and sign a current TD1 form, both a federal and a provincial form. The TD1 tells you, as an employer, how much tax you are required to deduct from their payroll. It will also provide you with their Social Insurance Number which an employer is required to have before paying an employee.

2. Process:

As part of the employee hiring process, you will have determined what their pay will be.

  • Are they paid hourly, paid salary, paid by commissions?
  • Do they have any taxable benefits that you need to include in their gross income?

In order to process the payroll, you will have to determine what amount needs to be recorded as gross income per pay period for the employee.

How do you determine gross income?

Using the gross income from above, you must now calculate and withhold the CPP, EI and income tax from your employee’s cheque and hold in trust for the government until you make your source deduction remittance. You can use the payroll features of accounting software if you are using that or you can use the Payroll Deductions Online Calculator found online at CRA.

Once you have calculated the deductions, you are ready to pay your employee and provide them with a paystub so they can see how their payroll was calculated.

Remit your source deductions according to the dates prescribed for your company by CRA. Most small businesses have to remit by the 15th of the following month but as your payroll gets larger, you may have different remittance dates.

Don’t forget to include your employer portion as part of the money you remit to CRA!

3. Report:

All of your Company’s payroll from January 1st to December 31st needs to be reported annually on a T4 Statement of Remuneration slip. You must provide a copy to the employee and file a copy with Canada Revenue Agency by February 28th each year.

Another reporting requirement you have as an employer is when an employee is no longer with your company, for whatever reason. Whenever this happens you must file a Record of Employment (ROE) with Service Canada. Your ROE could be due within 5 calendar days of the interruption of employment so make sure you check out the government website for more Information on ROE.

Feel free to call me if you need assistance on ensuring you are meeting your employer responsibilities with Canada Revenue Agency.

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