If you have been contacted and told that you are going to be reassessed on the tax returns you have filed, you still have the right to defend your claims if you are not in agreement to what CRA is reassessing. If you do this it will not be a short process, as it can easily take months, and can even run into years until everything is dealt with. This is a long time to have a CRA tax objection hanging over your head, and you need to do all you can to have the problem resolved quickly and in your favor.
While not wanting to cause you too much concern, there are some people who are still waiting for a resolution to their CRA tax objection after several years and clearly this is not going to allow them to live the life they want to live. To prevent ending up in the same position, employ an tax expert who will be able to put some pressure on the CRA and in turn, they will take some of the pressure away from you.
The news is not all bad, as the reason it takes so long to deal with a CRA tax objection is that the CRA do make sure they get everything right. They don’t like admitting to mistakes, but if they have made one, it will be sorted out in your favor. The downside is that if CRA chooses to stand their grounds, your objection is denied and more time and money will be needed to do another appeal. In this sense, it is better to work with a tax professional who has experience in dealing with CRA tax objection in order for you to have the best percentage of case approval for the first time around.
The cost of losing a CRA tax objection will be high in monetary terms so you need to work closely with the people representing you and make sure you provide every scrap of information they request. Once the Notice of Objection has been filed, the wheels are in motion and there is a good side to this. There will be no attempt made to take payments from you towards your tax bill, but you will find that interest is added. Make sure that you put the money you are not paying away as if you lose the CRA tax objection you will suddenly have a bigger bill than before.
It may seem unfair that you are paying interest when the CRA tax objection took so long to decide and that was not your fault. It is possible that you can have taxpayer relief but this will not be guaranteed. Again discuss this with your representative. The initial debt will still stand, but there will be less to pay in interest and added charges. You get two chances to apply for this, but if the second request is still not accepted that is the end of it and you need to pay the bill. Make sure you are applying for the right reason, not just because you were not aware of the issue at the time.