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.