Do you qualify for Taxpayer Relief?

By Victoria E. Turnbull

Taxpayer Relief

As I mentioned in my previous posts, The Canada Revenue Agency has a number of programs available to taxpayers. One of the programs available is called ‘The Taxpayer Relief Program’. If you qualify for this program, the CRA may cancel or waive penalties or interest on your taxes owing. However, if you do not apply for the program, they are not going to help you. You have a 10 year limit to file for taxpayer relief.

You may be granted relief from interest & penalties when the following types of situations prevent you from fulfilling your tax obligations:

• Extraordinary circumstances (Natural or man-made disasters, civil disturbance, serious illness or accident, mental distress cause by a death in the family, etc.)
• Actions of the CRA (Delays in providing information, errors in processing, etc.)
• Inability to pay or financial hardship (Loss of employment, payment of the interest would cause an inability to provide basic necessities such as shelter, medical help, food, etc.)
• Other circumstances (If your situation does not fall into the above categories, describe your circumstance and the CRA may still grant you relief)

Depending on your situation, be prepared to send source documents such as insurance statements, bank statements, mortgage statements, police/fire reports, death certificates, etc. to back up your claim.

If you have a tax balance with the Canada Revenue Agency, your account is accruing interest every day. To read more about interest rates & penalties visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/ntrst/menu-eng.html.

If you have any questions about the Taxpayer Relief Program, please feel free to call me personally at 289-389-2694 or you can email me at victoria@myhamiltonaccountant.com and I would be happy to help you!

DISCLAIMER:

THIS ARTICLE deals with a number of complex issues in a concise manner; it is recommended that accounting, legal or other
appropriate professional advice should be sought before acting upon any of the information contained therein.

Although every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this letter, no individual or
organization involved in either the preparation or distribution of this letter accepts any contractual, tortious, or any other form of
liability for its contents or for any consequences arising from its use.