Useful:The 5 CRA Audit Triggers Catching Canadians Off Guard
17 Replies to “Wealthy Boomers Hardest Hit”
So then … perhaps the CRA should investigate Letitia James and Eric Swalwell’s real estate residency … it doesn’t appear as though the IRS or DOJ is up to the task.
Isn’t CRA a Canadian agency?
CRA: We did your taxes, audited that, and you’re going to prison.
CRA: We know you’re guilty. We just don’t know why. Yet.
They’re only right around 17% of the time!
Have you seen the new CRA rules for filing taxes?
Online, or order paper forms, etc.
Do it yourself, just like you pack your own groceries.
But they hired a shiteload of people to harass you.
Better file your taxes or they will suspend your CPP etc.
Good thing guns are outlawed in Canada … so your IRS won’t be heavily armed.
There are 55,000 CRA staff and 76,000 IRS staff. This implies a Canadian population of 230 million.
well theyre working on it lol
On the upside, once you’re in debtor’s prison, you’ll at least get “front-of-the-line” healthcare! Or more likely MAID-care.
Little Dorrit was a cautionary tale.
my CRA story?
3 times. THREE TIMES they claimed l owed ADDITIONAL taxes based on ‘whatever’.
once THEY arbitrarily declared self employed i/c was income under contract.
(l was teaching IT applications at a PRIVATE college) m’kay. l pleade witht eh college to back me up they refused. m’kay.
CRA then COPIED my declared earning into the ‘wages and salary’ box instead of MOVING it.
took better part 2 years during which time l moved, to get their attention to THEIR error.
once they ‘caught on’ the dodge was l ‘gotta go back to the officee where l useta live’
?
sooooo if l moved to Yukon l wd have to fly back to st catharines?
anyways, as luck wd have it there was a huge scandal about ‘quotas’.
so l laid out everything on thee counter at hamilton office AND their threats to seize my property,
POINTED at their erroneous interpretation and suggested the NEXT stop would be Hamilton Spectator, ie RIPE for another CRA screw up scandal AND pointed out they had just WASTED the taxes l did pay harassing me for money l did not owe.
they caved. cpl weeks later whatever, l get a correct revised return, ends up l owed $11
(as such l pointed out MY original calculation was spot on).
then l went BACK to the private college issue and filed for and got vcation pay to the tune of iirc some $700. heh heh heh.
the other 2 times similar outcomes. they havent come at me since.
that was late 80s. l DID THE ‘cya’ by having everything DOCUMENTED.
Back in and around 1981 CRA or Revenue Canada at the time garnished my wages BUT the problem is they had the wrong PERSON….but that did not stop them until the “debt” was paid. I finally got them to see the light that they were wrong but that took months to iron out. BTW they did NOT apologize….hahaha……….then I was audited 5 years in a row even tho I was an ordinary wage earner……………go figure………BTW, they didn’t ever find anything wrong in those 5 years
DEI hiring complicated by bilingualism would account for at least part of the top heavy bureaucracy. In addition, attrition through leaving the CRA for greener pastures is minimal because no sane entity would want an ex-CRA type rummaging through their files hoping to find “something”.
Back in the ’90s, my wife went on mat leave. She made a whopping $202 a week on mat leave and I was in school full time. Not much to live on and raise a newborn. About 6 months after her mat leave, they wrote and said they overpaid her $26 and they wanted it back. We did what any self-respecting Canadian would do and told them to sit on their heads, we were poor as church mice and they were heartless (and of course, wrong). They didn’t stop harassing her. After a few more months, they garnished $26 from her paycheque (with no notice, which seems strange but whatever). Then a few months after that, they sent her a cheque for $13 and told her their calculations were wrong. What a ridonkulous waste of money.
For the next couple years, they audited her for everything. Income tax, moving expenses, GST, child benefits, everything. They told us this was “just random”. I got one very kind and injudicious agent on the phone who admitted it was because of the screw up they made with her mat leave payments and she was red-flagged on absolutely every category with CRA and there was nothing random about the harassment she was facing. We eventually hired an accountant to file her next tax return and we have never heard another peep out of them regarding her CRA accounts.
another time the CRA put the squeeze on me, lm an electrician’s helper. the project is a medical lab hamilton again, right on the town line with stoney creek. l know cause l took a short walk one lunch break.
it was also the time l was close to high tension wires and asked the boss about the buzz coming off them in wet weather.
anyways, it was the general contractor issued the paycheques.
funny thing was they did NOT come with a deductions pay slip. l was advised by the regular guys ‘dont press it’, it was apparently par for the course. so, not wanting to rock the boat l let it slide. then got laid off at the end of the project. then waited for a pay slip next tax period.
nothing.
this is where the fun starts. l contacted CRA about it whereupon naturally they dumped the whole issue in my lap. l pleaded my case, gave them a phone number under the name of the general contractor (he was the type of guy his ‘office’ was the dashboard of the pickup truck).
they had to take my word for what l was grossing. it was $11 a pop, par for the course at the time, early 90s. snarky CRA at one point says my boss is ‘the one who signs the cheque’. l retort if the cheque was signed by a payroll clerk does that make THEM my boss?
l had in fact 3 bosses on tht job, the general contractor, the licenced electrician, and the brother in law of the owner who worked with me and kept an eye on things ie nobody was ‘dogging’ it. he was the one who eventually laid me off, much to the protests of the electrician considering we were not finished. l was then called back for 2 more weeks. out of immense respect for the licensed electrician l went back instead of claiming they owed me the 2 weeks as severance.
l think l was kinda popular on that job, for instance l hooked up my utility trailer and brought a compact fridge from home we all used.
the electrician took notice, for a time l spent lunch hour fixing the ground wires on all the extension cords. also took notice everything l did that was inspected passed inspection 1st time.
it was where l honed the skill of working with live wires, a requisite when there are 50 breakers on the panel, guess which one and dont piss off the rest of the guys with stuff plugged in.
my view of CRA is tempered by the fact my kid is responsible to ensure all the 10s thousands paper versions of tax documents match the online version. the moment the hiring freeze was lifted about 4 govt departments came calling, smart kid. wicked sense of humour.
My wife actually had a very good experience with the CRA. One day out of clear blue sky she got a letter with a cheque saying they had reassessed her taxes from five years ago and she had made a $500 error. Two weeks later another cheque arrived with $200 for the next year. Then another and another until five years had been audited. Extremely curious about what was going on she called the CRA. The agent said someone had complained she was cheating on her taxes and that triggered the reassessment. My wife asked who complained. The agent involved said she couldn’t say who had triggered the reassessment but…they have a general policy that if one spouse going through a divorce complains the ex is cheating on their taxes, they reassess both spouses. Shortly afterward her ex filed a petition to the court that he not continue to pay child support because he now owed the CRA $23,000 in taxes and penalties over money he made and did not declare from a second part time job and he was now being garnished. He did not get his requested child support variance.
Be careful which dog you spitefully try to sic on your ex. Big dogs can turn around on you instead.
So then … perhaps the CRA should investigate Letitia James and Eric Swalwell’s real estate residency … it doesn’t appear as though the IRS or DOJ is up to the task.
Isn’t CRA a Canadian agency?
CRA: We did your taxes, audited that, and you’re going to prison.
CRA: We know you’re guilty. We just don’t know why. Yet.
They’re only right around 17% of the time!
Have you seen the new CRA rules for filing taxes?
Online, or order paper forms, etc.
Do it yourself, just like you pack your own groceries.
But they hired a shiteload of people to harass you.
Better file your taxes or they will suspend your CPP etc.
Good thing guns are outlawed in Canada … so your IRS won’t be heavily armed.
https://nypost.com/2023/05/02/irs-has-spent-10m-on-weapons-ammo-and-combat-gear-since-2020-watchdog/
There are 55,000 CRA staff and 76,000 IRS staff. This implies a Canadian population of 230 million.
well theyre working on it lol
On the upside, once you’re in debtor’s prison, you’ll at least get “front-of-the-line” healthcare! Or more likely MAID-care.
Little Dorrit was a cautionary tale.
my CRA story?
3 times. THREE TIMES they claimed l owed ADDITIONAL taxes based on ‘whatever’.
once THEY arbitrarily declared self employed i/c was income under contract.
(l was teaching IT applications at a PRIVATE college) m’kay. l pleade witht eh college to back me up they refused. m’kay.
CRA then COPIED my declared earning into the ‘wages and salary’ box instead of MOVING it.
took better part 2 years during which time l moved, to get their attention to THEIR error.
once they ‘caught on’ the dodge was l ‘gotta go back to the officee where l useta live’
?
sooooo if l moved to Yukon l wd have to fly back to st catharines?
anyways, as luck wd have it there was a huge scandal about ‘quotas’.
so l laid out everything on thee counter at hamilton office AND their threats to seize my property,
POINTED at their erroneous interpretation and suggested the NEXT stop would be Hamilton Spectator, ie RIPE for another CRA screw up scandal AND pointed out they had just WASTED the taxes l did pay harassing me for money l did not owe.
they caved. cpl weeks later whatever, l get a correct revised return, ends up l owed $11
(as such l pointed out MY original calculation was spot on).
then l went BACK to the private college issue and filed for and got vcation pay to the tune of iirc some $700. heh heh heh.
the other 2 times similar outcomes. they havent come at me since.
that was late 80s. l DID THE ‘cya’ by having everything DOCUMENTED.
Back in and around 1981 CRA or Revenue Canada at the time garnished my wages BUT the problem is they had the wrong PERSON….but that did not stop them until the “debt” was paid. I finally got them to see the light that they were wrong but that took months to iron out. BTW they did NOT apologize….hahaha……….then I was audited 5 years in a row even tho I was an ordinary wage earner……………go figure………BTW, they didn’t ever find anything wrong in those 5 years
DEI hiring complicated by bilingualism would account for at least part of the top heavy bureaucracy. In addition, attrition through leaving the CRA for greener pastures is minimal because no sane entity would want an ex-CRA type rummaging through their files hoping to find “something”.
Back in the ’90s, my wife went on mat leave. She made a whopping $202 a week on mat leave and I was in school full time. Not much to live on and raise a newborn. About 6 months after her mat leave, they wrote and said they overpaid her $26 and they wanted it back. We did what any self-respecting Canadian would do and told them to sit on their heads, we were poor as church mice and they were heartless (and of course, wrong). They didn’t stop harassing her. After a few more months, they garnished $26 from her paycheque (with no notice, which seems strange but whatever). Then a few months after that, they sent her a cheque for $13 and told her their calculations were wrong. What a ridonkulous waste of money.
For the next couple years, they audited her for everything. Income tax, moving expenses, GST, child benefits, everything. They told us this was “just random”. I got one very kind and injudicious agent on the phone who admitted it was because of the screw up they made with her mat leave payments and she was red-flagged on absolutely every category with CRA and there was nothing random about the harassment she was facing. We eventually hired an accountant to file her next tax return and we have never heard another peep out of them regarding her CRA accounts.
another time the CRA put the squeeze on me, lm an electrician’s helper. the project is a medical lab hamilton again, right on the town line with stoney creek. l know cause l took a short walk one lunch break.
it was also the time l was close to high tension wires and asked the boss about the buzz coming off them in wet weather.
anyways, it was the general contractor issued the paycheques.
funny thing was they did NOT come with a deductions pay slip. l was advised by the regular guys ‘dont press it’, it was apparently par for the course. so, not wanting to rock the boat l let it slide. then got laid off at the end of the project. then waited for a pay slip next tax period.
nothing.
this is where the fun starts. l contacted CRA about it whereupon naturally they dumped the whole issue in my lap. l pleaded my case, gave them a phone number under the name of the general contractor (he was the type of guy his ‘office’ was the dashboard of the pickup truck).
they had to take my word for what l was grossing. it was $11 a pop, par for the course at the time, early 90s. snarky CRA at one point says my boss is ‘the one who signs the cheque’. l retort if the cheque was signed by a payroll clerk does that make THEM my boss?
l had in fact 3 bosses on tht job, the general contractor, the licenced electrician, and the brother in law of the owner who worked with me and kept an eye on things ie nobody was ‘dogging’ it. he was the one who eventually laid me off, much to the protests of the electrician considering we were not finished. l was then called back for 2 more weeks. out of immense respect for the licensed electrician l went back instead of claiming they owed me the 2 weeks as severance.
l think l was kinda popular on that job, for instance l hooked up my utility trailer and brought a compact fridge from home we all used.
the electrician took notice, for a time l spent lunch hour fixing the ground wires on all the extension cords. also took notice everything l did that was inspected passed inspection 1st time.
it was where l honed the skill of working with live wires, a requisite when there are 50 breakers on the panel, guess which one and dont piss off the rest of the guys with stuff plugged in.
my view of CRA is tempered by the fact my kid is responsible to ensure all the 10s thousands paper versions of tax documents match the online version. the moment the hiring freeze was lifted about 4 govt departments came calling, smart kid. wicked sense of humour.
My wife actually had a very good experience with the CRA. One day out of clear blue sky she got a letter with a cheque saying they had reassessed her taxes from five years ago and she had made a $500 error. Two weeks later another cheque arrived with $200 for the next year. Then another and another until five years had been audited. Extremely curious about what was going on she called the CRA. The agent said someone had complained she was cheating on her taxes and that triggered the reassessment. My wife asked who complained. The agent involved said she couldn’t say who had triggered the reassessment but…they have a general policy that if one spouse going through a divorce complains the ex is cheating on their taxes, they reassess both spouses. Shortly afterward her ex filed a petition to the court that he not continue to pay child support because he now owed the CRA $23,000 in taxes and penalties over money he made and did not declare from a second part time job and he was now being garnished. He did not get his requested child support variance.
Be careful which dog you spitefully try to sic on your ex. Big dogs can turn around on you instead.