Most people have a certain level of fear when it comes to the CRA, especially if they are behind in their taxes. Often this fear can lead a taxpayer into deeper trouble. Instead of facing their late tax issues head on, they choose to ignore the Canada tax department.
There are many different thoughts that can evolve around a tax issue. Some people believe that if they are only a few years behind and really won’t owe that big of an amount of money that the CRA will put them at the bottom of the list of delinquent tax payers. That the government has bigger people to go after rather than the small tax debt issues.
This type of thinking is a big mistake. A good example of this is the recent conviction of a Gravenhurst resident who fell behind in his tax obligations and ignored the formal proceedings that the CRA implemented. In this case this particular person had outstanding personal tax filings for the years 2008 to 2010. As a result he ended up in court and was handed down a fine of $3,000, with an order to complete the outstanding returns by April 2014.
On a bigger scale another tax payer in Thunder Bay ended up being the tax courts on charges of tax evasion and was given a large fine plus placed under house arrest.
These are just two examples of many tax cases that come before the Canada tax courts every year. It delivers a strong message that you cannot avoid your tax obligations or indulge in tax evasion.
The CRA has tried to be fair with tax payers who truly are in a tough financial situation. There are programs in place where a tax payer can come forward voluntarily to disclose their tax issues. This is not something that is available after the fact. In other words if the CRA has come after you before you went to them, then this type of program is not going to be of value to you.
In any event even if the tax department has issued some type of compliance to you avoiding it is not the solution. Get yourself a good tax accountant and get your tax affairs in order. The longer you try and avoid this tax situation the harder it is going to be on you. Tax problems accumulate and you have the power to stop this by getting yourself back on track with your tax obligations.
Give us a call here at Toronto Accountant 416-398-1700, or fill out the contact form on the right hand side here and let us assist you with coming clean with your outstanding tax matters.
