Canadian Taxpayer relief refers to reaching a negotiating with the CRA where the debt issue is resolved through waiving or cancelling off the interest or penalty amount from the actual payable taxes of a debtor. Canadian taxpayer relief program was designed to offer relief to taxpayers who were unable to pay their tax debt s owing to
– Any extraordinary circumstances
– An action of the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency)
– Financial hardships resulting in inability to pay off debts
– Other similar circumstances
Canadian tax relief for a debtor is specified differently under cancelling of the debt and wavering of the tax debt. By cancelling of a tax debt it is meant that the already levied penalty or interest on a taxpayer is cancelled either in whole or partially, however wavering of taxpayer debt allows amnesty or relief from a future interest or penalty that will be levied.
As listed above one way of Canadian taxpayer relief is wavering or cancelling of interest and penalty owing to extraordinary circumstances. These extraordinary circumstances include
– occurrence of an accident or any illness
– facing disasters that are either natural or manmade such as floods, fires, etc
– any civil disturbance incidence that cause disruptions in any one or many services such as strikes in postal service and
– Severe mental or emotional distress such as death of a close or immediate member of the family.
Further on actions of the CRA that allow Canadian taxpayer relief include
– Any error present in the CRA material that resulted in a taxpayer filing a return of any payment that was based on any incorrect information
– Any processing delays that resulted in not informing of the taxpayer and the assigned time of paying owed amount was over.
– Processing error
– Any incorrect information to a taxpayer usually in writing by CRA
– Any undue delay in audit completion or resolving of an appeal or objection
– Any information delays that hinder taxpayer from paying his dues on time.
These are the conditions besides proved inability to pay taxes and other circumstances that make a taxpayer eligible for Canadian tax relief.
There is a common misconception that taxpayer relief can be obtained only once and so giving it the best shot once is always a good idea. This is not true as tax relief can be applied for by individuals as many times as they are warranted for it. That is when any of the above mentioned conditions are present Canadian taxpayer relief can be applied for.
Also applying for a Canadian taxpayer relief through not filing the tax returns initially and then later on proving bankruptcy or inability to pay will not render a taxpayer eligible for the Canadian tax relief. Not filing taxes is an offense and can be prosecuted. It is essential to file all outstanding returns before filing for the Canadian taxpayer relief program as it will not be considered until everything is up to current.
Also any birth disability with an individual will not make him eligible for a Canadian taxpayer relief program as if he or she has managed to pull it this far they can do it in future as well. Since filing for taxpayer relief is a very complex process, hiring the service of a tax expert company such as Tax SOS will help you in following the right direction and ultimately success in getting the Canadian tax relief if you qualify for it.
Summary
Canadian taxpayer relief program was designed to relieve tax debtors from paying interest and penalties that are levied on them that were either due to an error of the CRA, inability to pay off, an extraordinary occurrence or some other circumstances. CRA allows tax relief to any individual as many times as he proved to be worthy of it.