Updates On CRA Activities
This page discusses the issues and frequently asked questions that come up regarding CRA policies and collection activities on an occasional basis.
The in-common strategies of dealing with CRA debt collections will be dealt with in depth in the member section of this website
December 18, 2016
RE: Interest Relief needs to be submitted within 10 years of tax year in dispute
A reminder that the emails many receive from Global Learning Gifting Initiative (GLGI) do not relate to us Global SaveTax Consultants. We understand that a former employee of GLGI marketed the entire database of GLGI to a group known as Tax Solutions Canada.
We do not know if the service Tax Solutions offers is unsatisfactory or exemplary but we have learned their full package of tax shelter-related services costs $4,500 plus HST.
Recently Tax Solutions sent a reminder that if you wish to apply for interest relief through a CRA program known as Taxpayer Relief, that you need to do it before the 10 year anniversary of the tax year in question, eg. by year end 2016 for the 2006 tax year. If you do not submit an application in the required time frame CRA cannot or will not consider it.
So what is interest relief? If you feel there is reason your interest should be reduced due to (for example) CRA delay then apply. Some time after the case is settled in CRA's favour they will decide if they will allow you interest relief. An informed person said submitting an interest relief request to CRA is like submitting a Notice of Objection. If you don't do it then there is never a chance, small as either is.
If you wish to apply you have a couple options we know of.
Contact Tax Solutions at 1-844-855-4544 and they will assist you for $1,500.
The other is to download the pre-filled form HERE, fill it in with your personal details and submit it to your tax office.
When a number of us did it ourselves a couple years ago we filled in a single form and input every tax year from the 1st year involved right up to date. For example 2003, 2004, 5, 6... 2016. Cover all the bases, it can't hurt.
Probably to be technically correct you would fill in a form for each tax year and each tax shelter. Either way, expect a confirmation letter from CRA that they received it and will consider it at a future date.
October 21, 2016
RE: Canada Revenue Agency collections activities for GLGI related tax debts
In the past weeks there has been a pattern of NOTICES OF CONFIRMATION that are showing up in the mail. A Confirmation is CRA’s response to a Notice of Objection filed by the taxpayer AND confirms CRA’s position that the claim for deduction or credit is denied.
Historically, these have arrived by registered mail from the Appeals Office you sent your NOO to but in these cases they are coming by regular mail from Tax Collections offices.
Why? Because in 2014 those of us who are now receiving these confirmations signed Waiver 2 - Agreement to be Bound to the 2015 GLGI Tax Court case, thereby giving up any and all appeal rights. CRA has interpreted this to mean you have agreed for your file to go directly to Collections… right or wrong, it is what it is.
A Manitoba lawyer is willing to appeal your case to Tax Court, however. Check it out HERE
Obviously, the Tax Court case went against the appellants including those who agreed to be bound by the decision. That means CRA expects taxpayers to pay back all the tax and all the interest, immediately.
Some recipients of the letters claim they did not sign Waiver 2 - Agreement to be Bound. If this is your case you may wish to contact the office that issued this notice and ask them to produce a copy of your signed waiver. Call the 2nd number listed on your letter (questions regarding this Notice of Confirmation) not the Collections phone number.
For those who neither accepted the settlement terms or the Agreement to be Bound, supposedly they have the right to receive a Notice of Confirmation by registered mail and to be offered the right to appeal the Confirmation to Tax Court. So for them, the notices may not come until down the line and should come from the major appeals departments, not a Collections office.
So what about these Notices of Confirmation? If you receive one, you are urged to take it seriously. CRA is fully within its rights to take immediate and decisive action on your file. Initially, it is likely that payment notices will be issued in the coming weeks and months, but if you have a question about the process it may be advisable to call the number on your letter.
The decision to ‘refuse to pay’ or ‘hide assets’ or take other evasive actions is not for the faint of heart or for the greatest majority of people reading this post. As an editorial comment, it is not illegal to NOT pay ones unsecured creditors, including CRA, but is a perilous road to go down.
CRA has many tools at its disposal to enforce payment, so it is unreasonable to expect more than a small percentage of the people who try not to pay, to have any level of success.
At CRA’s disposal:
a) garnish one’s wages, bank accounts, government benefits and investment accounts (they
know where they are through your tax filings and banking activities with them)
b) Lien one’s real properties (home, rentals, cottage), RRSP’s and pension funds
c) Seize assets such as vehicles, recreational property, contents of safety deposit boxes, etc
OPTIONS
- Contact CRA as requested to make arrangements to pay in full
- Contact CRA as requested to determine if a payment plan is acceptable
- Contact tax professionals to work on your behalf to possibly reduce interest and/or arrange a payment plan. We do not make recommendations.
- Contact a Licenced Insolvency Trustee to review your options such as filing a proposal to creditors or possibly filing for bankruptcy (there is a partial list of recommended trustees below)
Licenced Insolvency Trustees (All provinces have trustees, look one up in your area. Some possible choices in selected locations, below)
Trustees are a reasonable solution for greater than 50% of tax shelter participants. For some, the proposal or bankruptcy options will not work due to combinations of their relatively high wealth/high incomes/low debts... others it's an excellent financial tool to protect and preserve... for many there is no other option. Honestly (and without financial gain of any sort for suggesting), most people reviewing this post would be doing their situations a disservice by NOT investigating the options with the insolvency trustees. Some seem to be more creative with interpreting the rules than others, so best to check them out.
Saskatchewan
BDO Canada Limited www.bdodebthelp.ca
Regina: Tami Rogers - 306-949-3328 trogers@bdo.ca
Cameron Okolita Inc, Saskatchewan www.cameronokolita.ca
(offices in Regina, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, and Swift Current)
Regina: Joseph Okolita, Shawna Moran, Brian Williams - 306-359-0200; TF 1-800-353-3339;
fiancialsolutions@sasktel.net
Deloitte Restructuring Inc www.debtsolutions.deloitte.ca
Regina: Michelle Statz - 306-565-5222 mstatz@deloitte.ca
Saskatoon: Marla Adams - 306-343-3328 madams@deloitte.ca
Pinder Bueckert & Associates Inc
Saskatoon: Karl Bueckert - 306-653-1100
Alberta
BDO Canada Limited www.bdodebthelp.ca
Edmonton: Jordan Day - 780-643-6187 jday@bdo.ca
Cameron Okolita Inc, Alberta
www.bankruptcyedmonton.net
www.calgary-bankruptcy.org
(offices in Edmonton, Grand Prairie, Lloydminster, Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge)
Edmonton: Theo De Leon - 780-429-9000
Calgary: Ken Owcharuk - 403-543-3100
Manitoba
Keith G. Collins LTD
Winnipeg: Doug Collins - 204-944-0187