Category Archives: CRA Collection

Is Your Bank Account subject to CRA Bank Freeze?

If there is money owed in taxes, the CRA will do all they can to make sure they get it. It won’t be a case of asking what you can afford to pay, as they will take legal action to make sure that they get everything they can. This will unfortunately lead you into great difficulties as one of the things they can do is put a CRA bank freeze on your account.

What is even worse when it comes to a CRA bank freeze is the fact that it can be really unexpected. There is no need to get the permission of the courts and no need to tell you in advance when this is going to happen. Clearly they will not tell you as it would be simple enough to take the money out of the account meaning that there is nothing left for them to take. The first you will know about a CRA bank freeze is when you try to take money out of your account and you are not able to.

You will have been made aware that there is the money owed, and given the chance to pay it off, but most of the time the money is not paid because it would lead to financial hardship rather than just not wanting to pay. There will be a letter sent out as a way of pre-warning and you are told that you could have legal action taken against you. There are two letters sent and the threat of legal action leads a lot of people to believe that they are going to have time to sort the mess out rather than face a sudden CRA bank freeze.

Once the bank has received the letter known as the “Requirement to Pay” there is nothing they can do other than comply. They have to place a CRA bank freeze on the account. Once this happens, life can become very difficult and you will find that you face difficulties in all areas of your life including seeing your debts growing.

Your mortgage will not be paid and nor will any direct debits or standing orders. You will be defaulted and often have additional charges added. A CRA bank freeze will even prevent you from taking out cash to buy food. There is the chance to have your salary paid into a new account, but you will have to find a bank prepared to trust you enough to let you open an account with them, after you have had a CRA bank freeze placed on your old one.

There is a way to deal with a CRA bank freeze, and that is to get someone to help you deal with the CRA. It may not be possible to pay off the debt before the freeze happens, but they will be able to work with the CRA to either get extra time, or have the freeze lifted. This is not an easy thing to do, but with the right help and strategy it is possible.

Getting Support When Facing CRA Collection Problems

When you have a tax bill to pay it is important that you do not ignore it. Ideally it will be paid right away but if there are problems, speak to someone right away so as there can be a process put in place that will allow you to meet your obligations and not end up without enough money to live on. CRA collection is going to happen and it is to your advantage to make sure that it happens the way that is best for you.

Not getting organised will not prevent CRA collection and there will be penalties if you are late paying, and the longer the delay the worse the penalties will be. There may be the chance that CRA are wrong and you do not owe as much, so firstly have this amount checked and once there is a figure agreed then this is the amount the CRA collection will want to get from you.

Once the CRA are aware that you are not making payments, then they will start proceedings to collect the money. It is at this stage that you need to have someone who can help you and by employing a tax expert who will deal with the CRA and save you from the discomfort that their questioning may bring. There is often a risk that tax paid via CRA collection in installments will lead to you paying more than if it was paid right away.

While not impossible to deal with the CRA alone, it is advisable to retain help as they are familiar with the way the system works. CRA collection can be harsh and if there are problems when the program is in place you can find that you are getting deeper into trouble and will not only have additional costs added to the account but could end up with your employer becoming aware of the issue. Money can be taken from your wages and even your house can become part of the deal. It is also possible that your bank account will be frozen so you will not have access to any of your funds. When it comes to the tax you owe, CRA collection will not stop until the entire amount has been paid off.

While CRA collection officers are going to do all they can to make sure that your tax debt is the one that is dealt with ahead of any others that you may have. By neglecting others, you could find that you are getting into trouble with any companies that you have loans or credit cards with as you may be struggling to make your payment to them.

It will only be with expert help that you can negotiate the minefield that is the law surrounding tax collection. Once you have someone who understands the procedure and has dealt with numerous cases, that you can become more relaxed about CRA collection.

CRA Tax Problem Help in Toronto and Other Canadian Cities

Many people in Canada find themselves facing a tax debt that may become too big for them to handle when CRA knocks at their doors and starts giving them deadlines to work out payment plans. It is not an easy task to deal with a CRA collections officer who could be aggressive.

Seeking tax problem help in Toronto or other cities in Canada becomes an important in part of handling the CRA tax people. CRA will generally accept a payment schedule that may stretch up to a period of six months. In order to clear yourself of a tax mess, you require professional tax problem help in Toronto or other Canadian cities because you have to understand thoroughly about the options available to you and how best you can begin to protect yourself and your business assets.

You really need some tax problem help in Toronto or other cities for there are cases when CRA will refuse to negotiate a payment plan which was thought as reasonable by you. This is where professional help and tax problem help will come in.

For any business enterprise or an individual, taxes have become one of the most difficult areas. The world has changed drastically and indifferent accounting just cannot pass. Consequently, thousands of business owners across Canada find themselves right in the middle of heavy tax problems leading to tax liabilities and they seek out tax problem help in Toronto and many other cities in Canada.

An individual facing tax problems may have reached that stage because of not being aware of the possible problems. By seeking tax problem help in Toronto or other cities, he or she could begin to avoid those problems and resolve them so that operation is possible in a tax worry free world.

People tend to ignore the communications they receive from the CRA collection centres. This is because they may be scared of the results that are linked with the kinds of tax problems they may have or that they require more time to come up with the finances to pay off their tax debts. Not taking tax problem help may result in a collection action from the CRA. If you feel that there is a tax problem, then it is advisable that you seek representation and tax problem help as early as possible.

The routine kinds of collection action that you may seek tax problem help in Toronto or many other Canadian cities could be handling demand letters from the CRA, financial disclosure requests, CRA garnishment to your wages and bank accounts that could get frozen. There may be additional action such as garnishment notices that may be sent to the financial institutions that you deal with along with liens on your property.

So, if you land into trouble when resolving a tax debt problem with the CRA, you need to seek out tax problem help in Toronto or other Canadian cities. When you seek professional tax help, you may buy time with the CRA collection practices. If your problem is pegged to coming forward with a payment schedule or a plan, you may take tax problem help.

How the CRA Collections System works?

Since 1^st August, 2005, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been given the responsibility of the cra collections of tax debts which was previously being handles by the Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC). CRA collection has the accountability for tax debts that are due to HRSDC through student loans, employment insurance, old age security, employment programs and Canada Pension Plan.

When the tax assessment or a reassessment is not paid, the balances which are unpaid are drawn from the relevant accounting system and these balances turn into collection accounts. There is a distinct accounting system for each line of revenue. The lines of revenue are corporate tax, personal income tax, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and salary deductions by all employers.

CRA Collections Agency

CRA Collections agency has to recover the entire balance of tax debts or make arrangements through individual payment plans from defaulters to recover the tax debt within a specified period of time. Recourse to legal action is taken when the defaulters are not able to arrange the filing of their tax returns. The kind of legal actions that can apply include certification of the debt in federal courts, garnishing of wages and accounts receivables, placing a lien on the assets of the taxpayer, setting off the tax debt against other government payments and seizing the assets of the taxpayer.

CRA Collections Agency can also take the tax defaulters and debtors to court in order to collect the debt which has not been paid. The procedures used by CRA Collections agencies to collect the outstanding tax debt amounts could be a combination of both automated and manual intervention. The CRA collection procedures may involve sending computer-generated letters, making reminder telephone calls, organizing field visits by the agents and sending legal notices.

The CRA collection activities take place through the Revenue Enforcement Management Information Tracking System (REMITS). This is done through a national collection call centre in the capital city of Ottawa and at eight other locations that organize collection for personal tax and Goods & Services Tax. The mode of collection will be determined by CRA collection authorities depending on the complexity as well as the size of an account.

REMITS of CRA collections arranges letters to all the tax debtors and takes care of specified accounts for which prior arrangements have been made. The call centre of CRA collection is responsible for outbound calls principally to those tax debtors whose outstanding amounts are below a specified dollar limit. The call centre is equipped with a telephone calling system which enables it to dial out to taxpayers automatically. The national pools make these outbound calls not considering any specific geographic boundaries for both individual tax and the Goods & Services Tax below a specified dollar limit.

CRA collection pools also conduct restricted enforcement actions such as garnishing the wages or accounts receivables of the taxpayers. The Tax Service Offices handle the more complicated accounts and conduct a range of legal enforcement like the seizing of assets or placement of liens on the properties of the tax defaulters.