Three Years of Late Returns Filed

Three tax years had gone unfiled. What began as one missed spring turned into a habit of putting the envelope aside, and by the time we were contacted CRA had issued arbitrary assessments for two of the years — assessments raised on gross deposits, with no expenses allowed and penalties and interest already accruing.

A collections letter had followed, and the balance shown was several times what the client believed was actually owed.

What the Client Needed

The client needed the notional assessments replaced with real returns showing genuine income and legitimate expenses, relief from the penalties where the rules allowed it, and a payment plan they could realistically meet while continuing to work. Just as important, they needed the filings to stay current afterwards so the cycle would not repeat.

What We Did

We were authorised through CRA Represent a Client, then pulled every slip CRA held on file for the three years. Self-employment income was reconstructed from bank deposits and invoices, and vehicle, tool, insurance and home-office expenses were rebuilt from the records that did exist.

The returns were filed in sequence so each year’s carry-forward amounts flowed correctly into the next. A taxpayer relief application was submitted for the penalty and interest arising from the period the client was unable to file, and once the reassessments were issued we negotiated a monthly payment arrangement against the corrected balance.