# Government seems to be looking for money...



## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

The carbon tax grabs just announced...

Capital gains declaration and proving you actually own your house...

Then, my accountant calls today saying ccra wants to confirm some of my claims...nothing really unusual there, Ccra does this all the time, spot checking and asking for the receipts because everything in e-filed these days.

The difference this year is, Ccra usually only does one, maybe two rounds of these checks per year...this is already the fourth round of checks (not on me in particular, but rather in general) just this year since may. 

Looks like the government is trying to find ways to pay for all these promises that have been made.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> The difference this year is, Ccra usually only does one, maybe two rounds of these checks per year.


 All several checks we had were always falling on July-August....so maybe you are right...
Somebody has to pay more so JT gets nice international PR... to settle so called Syrian "refugees" , help African dictators etc..

Just a Guy , are you business owner? What kinds of claims they are checking?


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Yes I own a couple of companies, but these were personal stuff...nothing really serious, I have to send in some t5's and some medical stuff. Nothing really serious, seems like a waste of time in my case.


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## bariutt (Feb 2, 2013)

*Justin Trudeau Will Bankrupt Canada*

By the time we get Justin Trudeau out of office he will have brought Canada to near bankruptcy. Hold onto your hat for increased taxes.

This is so that he can "jet set" around the world giving our money away like a drunken fool.


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## mordko (Jan 23, 2016)

There is that but look on the good side - NY Times thinks he is a heartthrob and we get to admire awesome selfies which are ours to keep http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/world/americas/justin-trudeau-quantum-computing-canada.html


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Just a Guy said:


> ... my accountant calls today saying ccra wants to confirm some of my claims...nothing really unusual there, Ccra does this all the time, spot checking and asking for the receipts because everything in e-filed these days.
> 
> The difference this year is, Ccra usually only does one, maybe two rounds of these checks per year...this is already the fourth round of checks (not on me in particular, but rather in general) just this year since may.


It looks like autocorrect or predictive software is kicking in as I've never dealt with Ccra. CRA OTOH has asked for similar in the past. :smile:




Just a Guy said:


> ... I own a couple of companies, but these were personal stuff...nothing really serious, I have to send in some t5's and some medical stuff. Nothing really serious, seems like a waste of time in my case.


Weird that you would have to send in T5's ... unless you have some sort of control over the company issuing the T5?


I'm not sure I'd see the medical stuff as an indication that the gov't is looking for money. There must be a lot of mistaken claims or abuse. Mom who is pushing ninety has been asked for supplementation medical stuff for at least a decade with as many as five requests in a single year, according to my sister who is handling her business.


Cheers


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> Weird that you would have to send in T5's ... unless you have some sort of control over the company issuing the T5?


Exactly! Don't see any sense , unless CRA government workers need to pretend that they are doing something... 



> I'm not sure I'd see the medical stuff as an indication that the gov't is looking for money.


Medical stuff is a real pain in the ***.... In our case ... if for example we had $2000 expense for massage therapy... we send claim to Manulife (who pays some portion of expense), than to Sunlife (my wife insurance) who pays some other amount, than to Manulife HCSA, than to Sunlife HCSA, and then finally calculate $2000 - ALL we got from insurance companies and submit this amount to CRA...
In many cases we don't use HCSA for various reasons, so CRA may ask to prove that we didn't use it..... and so on.....
If CRA would like to check it and amount of refund would be up to $200-300, most likely I just gonna pay them.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

gibor365 said:


> Exactly! Don't see any sense , unless CRA government workers need to pretend that they are doing something...


No, they are doing their jobs. CRA is cracking down on compliance as well as the underground economy. It's no secret - there is a policy paper on their web site. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/tx-gp/menu-eng.html But you're right - it's about money - the taxes that are going unpaid for whatever reason. 

I don't see what your complaint is about medical expenses. Surely you don't expect to claim expenses for which you reimbursed by your insurance company?


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

I didn't actually mean for people to interpret my particular case as the government is looking for money from me (it's pretty clear it's a waste of time in my case, especially as those numbers are rather low for me). 

I was actually pointing out that they are doing a 4th round of checking this year which, according to my accountant, is highly unusual...

Then again so is justin's catering bills for his air travel at $1300/person.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

OhGreatGuru said:


> No, they are doing their jobs. CRA is cracking down on compliance as well as the underground economy.


??? ... what connection to compliance or the underground economy do you see where a T5 *was* issued? 

The situation I can think of (now that I've had more time to think about it) that requesting the T5 forms would deal with is if the tax payer used an older, incorrect T5 and CRA has the latest, presumably correct T5 with different numbers. 


It's no secret - there is a policy paper on their web site. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/tx-gp/menu-eng.html But you're right - it's about money - the taxes that are going unpaid for whatever reason. 




OhGreatGuru said:


> ... I don't see what your complaint is about medical expenses. Surely you don't expect to claim expenses for which you reimbursed by your insurance company?


I'm not 100% sure but it sounds to me like it is a complaint that the process and followup could be improved.


For my mom's medical expenses - with an accountant doing her tax return and approaching a decade of all medical expenses being validated as legitimate, it seems silly to keep requesting similar documentation repeatedly. In some cases, the same documents are being requested multiple times in the year.

If mom were living somewhere that family wasn't around - the gov't would be profiting from the hassle as she is not up to forcing them to pay up for legitimate medical expenses.


Cheers


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Just a Guy said:


> .... I was actually pointing out that they are doing a 4th round of checking this year which, according to my accountant, is highly unusual ...


I wonder what his client base is and what their age is. 

From complaints my sister has made in the past, Mom has had six and seven rounds of checking her medical expenses. In several cases, it dragged out over two or three years to end up concluding mom was claiming what she was entitled to.




Just a Guy said:


> ... Then again so is justin's catering bills for his air travel at $1300/person.


 ... make me wonder what in previous years the Conservative gov't was being attempted to be paid for. :disillusionment:


Cheers


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## Market Lost (Jul 27, 2016)

bariutt said:


> By the time we get Justin Trudeau out of office he will have brought Canada to near bankruptcy. Hold onto your hat for increased taxes.
> 
> This is so that he can "jet set" around the world giving our money away like a drunken fool.


I guess you were in a comma during the previous government.


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## Market Lost (Jul 27, 2016)

Just a Guy said:


> The carbon tax grabs just announced...
> 
> Capital gains declaration and proving you actually own your house...
> 
> ...


The checks are nothing unusual. I'm not sure what you mean by rounds, as CRA doesn't just do checks once a year. It's always early fall before the notices go out for personal taxes due to timing issues, but business checks are done all year long.


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## Market Lost (Jul 27, 2016)

Eclectic12 said:


> It looks like autocorrect or predictive software is kicking in as I've never dealt with Ccra. CRA OTOH has asked for similar in the past. :smile:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They ask for all slips, even T4s - the only exception are the slips the government issues. Medical slips are a common one as they aren't turned in for electronic filers.


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

The apparent increase in demands for follow-up information may also be a consequence of electronic filing. With e-filing, you no longer have to send in all kinds of tax slips and receipts that are still required with paper returns. But must keep them on hand "if requested". Well, guess what, they are actually requesting those slips and receipts from randomly selected people, in order to keep everybody honest. If you happen to be one of the lucky people selected you may feel picked on. But the point is, before electronic filing, everybody had to send in that documentation as a matter of course.


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## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> I don't see what your complaint is about medical expenses. Surely you don't expect to claim expenses for which you reimbursed by your insurance company?


 Obviously not! But in some cases in order to prove $10 expense , I need to print and mail 4 statements! (from mine and my wife insurances + 2 from HCSA). This is nuts!



> The checks are nothing unusual. I'm not sure what you mean by rounds, as CRA doesn't just do checks once a year. It's always early fall before the notices go out for personal taxes due to timing issues, but business checks are done all year long.


 Actually they are doing those checks in July and August. This year it's likely that they do another October's round.



> they are actually requesting those slips and receipts from randomly selected people,


 Randomly or persons's that raise red flag on their soft... I read somewhere that they can check if your return sharply increased year to year..




> They ask for all slips, even T4s


 They're government workers and need to pretend that they are doing something useful.



> Mom who is pushing ninety has been asked for supplementation medical stuff for at least a decade with as many as five requests in a single year, according to my sister who is handling her business.


and if nobody was able to handle her business?! What 90 y.om grandma can do?!

P.S. Cancel 90% of the credits, introduce flat tax system.... and we won't have any issues and 90% of CRA bureaucrats can be laid off


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## Market Lost (Jul 27, 2016)

gibor365 said:


> Obviously not! But in some cases in order to prove $10 expense , I need to print and mail 4 statements! (from mine and my wife insurances + 2 from HCSA). This is nuts!


You could just not justify the expense, and have them deny the $10.  
In all seriousness, I understand your frustration, but CRA doesn't know, nor do they worry about what you need to justify the expense. Taxes are based on the honour system, and need to be verified for that reason. You could just as easily be asked to verify a $100 expense that only takes one statement, it's all the same in the big picture.



> Actually they are doing those checks in July and August. This year it's likely that they do another October's round.


The early checks must be due to the fact most people are electronically filing. When paper filing was the norm, it wasn't until Sep that verification started. Still not sure what people mean by a "round" as you can be asked to send in your slips at any time. The fact that you have a friend named Sally that gets a request in August, and a friend named Paul who gets a request in October doesn't meant there are rounds. 



> Randomly or persons's that raise red flag on their soft... I read somewhere that they can check if your return sharply increased year to year..


They have a number of flags that get checked. In fact, if you ask them, they'll tell you that every return is looked over by someone to see if there is something that needs further scrutiny. An increase in income actually isn't one that I'm aware of, but having a higher income means that your tax return will have more attention paid to it. Back in the 90's it was a known secret that anyone earning over $100K had a dedicated agent who kept their file. One of my friend's fathers actually found this out when his agent greeted him, and told him about it. 




> They're government workers and need to pretend that they are doing something useful.


Yes, I fully agree. All the construction in Ottawa has convinced me that the government hasn't lifted a finger. And just because we have several schools in my neighbourhood, health care, CPP, and social assistance, don't let that fool you into thinking that anything is being done. ;-)




> and if nobody was able to handle her business?! What 90 y.om grandma can do?!


Not sure what you mean.



> P.S. Cancel 90% of the credits, introduce flat tax system.... and we won't have any issues and 90% of CRA bureaucrats can be laid off


Sure, they'll just impose a 100% tax and be done with it.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Market Lost said:


> They ask for all slips, even T4s - the only exception are the slips the government issues. Medical slips are a common one as they aren't turned in for electronic filers.


Then I am guessing it's for a paper return.

I can recall being asked to send in copies of forgotten T5s when I filed a paper return. Since going electronic, the instances I can recall are when the NOA highlighted the changes CRA had made to the return. When I traced it down, it was a missing T5 or wrong numbers or an updated T5.

Now that CRA allows the tax payers to autofill their T forms based on what has been sent to their computers - it would seem there would be less and less of a need to request a copy.


Cheers


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

OhGreatGuru said:


> The apparent increase in demands for follow-up information may also be a consequence of electronic filing. With e-filing, you no longer have to send in all kinds of tax slips and receipts that are still required with paper returns. But must keep them on hand "if requested"...


That makes sense for items that CRA does not have an independent copy of (ex. charitable receipts, medical documentation etc.).

Having had CRA fix a T form from their copy as well as the new autofill feature that plugs the numbers they have received into the tax payers's software - a T form seems a waste of time. Unless the accountant is filing a paper return.


Cheers


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