Owing money to the tax department is not a pleasant situation to be in, however there are many that do find themselves in this predicament. There can be a number of reasons as to why this has happened but one thing is for sure and that is the CRA will do whatever is necessary to collect the money owed.
There are some individuals who will do their best to avoid having to pay their taxes owed, and will attempt various tactics. Some assume that if they transfer potential assets that the tax government could potentially seize to a family member that this will stop the CRA from taking it.
Those that have tried this have found that by simply transferring their assets to their spouse for this purpose has been a fruitless act on their part. What can end up happening is the CRA can make the person receiving the cash or property responsible for a portion of the tax liability based on the fair market value of that property given. Nobody wants to find themselves now responsible for a tax debt that was not theirs to begin with even if they are related to the individual who owes the money.
For individuals who are in arrears with their taxes their time is better spent on devising ideas of how they can meet their tax obligation rather than avoid it. Many delinquent tax payers end up in a far worse situation than when the tax debt originated because they did not want to make any attempt to handle the matter.
For some they simply did not have the extra cash available to pay the debt. In these cases if this is true, then the CRA will usually work with the tax payer to make workable payments. That is provided the individual is not just trying to avoid getting the debt cleared up. There are others who simply detest having to pay taxes and will allow themselves to get into a serious situation with the tax people because of this.
The CRA has many means and a lot of authority when it comes to collecting money owed and they do their job well. Your first step may be to see a good tax accountant to help you sort out your tax obligations and then start negotiations to meet your tax obligations.
Once you get yourself back on track with your past taxes, be sure to make every effort to stay current with your future tax obligations. You will find that once your taxes are in order you won’t feel like you are being constantly harassed any longer and you can go about your regular financial business.
