How to deal with your Tax Debt

Taxpayers are often overwhelmed by a tax assessment or a Tax Statement of Account that shows a balance owing that is impossible to pay.  One common reaction is to ignore it since you can’t afford to pay.

A CRA tax debt has to be addressed immediately.  If it is ignored a CRA collections officer will commence tax enforcement actions.  This means your bank account will be seized, your wages or accounts receivable or rents will be garnished, and your house may have a lien registered.

Dealing with the CRA officer yourself is usually a mistake.  Collection officers are very aggressive and will come to your home or office with one purpose – collect as much as possible as quickly as possible.  They have many collection powers, but may mislead taxpayers as to your rights are.

You need to retain a professional as soon as CRA notifies you of a tax debt.  We have been solving tax debt problems since 1987. We may be able to challenge the tax assessment by filing a Notice of Objection.  If you owe the full tax debt we may be able to reduce penalties and interest by filing a Taxpayer Relief (Fairness) Application.  We are usually able to negotiate affordable payment arrangements with the tax collections officer in order to avoid enforcement actions such as bank account seizure or wage garnishments.

If the amount is too large to ever pay off we will direct you to a bankruptcy trustee who will either make a consumer proposal or submit a bankruptcy application to fully eliminate the taxes owing.

Contact us for help with your tax debt.

Disclaimer:
"This article provides information of a general nature only. It may no longer be current. It does not provide legal advice nor should it be relied upon. If you have specific legal questions you should consult a lawyer."