Voluntary disclosure - Eight year for fraud - unlimited for not filing - Bankruptcy discharge - Chapter 7 and or 13 -
QUESTION: Is the 10 year time limit for using CRA's voluntary disclosures program hard and fast? If so, why? What happens when someone only discovers they made a mistake much later and they want to straighten it out? Can they still do so? (Since the CRA can go back as many years as they want, it only seems fair that someone who discovers a mistake more than 10yrs old should also have a chance to correct it.)----------------------------------------------
david ingram replies;
The tax office is usually restricted to going back 3 years unless they allege serious fraud. If there is fraud, they have a method of going back eight years. In my 44 years in this business, I have only seen the tax office go back under this legislation ONE time against an ordinary individual and he was a logger. By the time they were finished in a court room, the CRA had proven that he did not report $5,000 of log sales in the right year. (He reported a $4,000 sale on about Dec 21st of one year in the next year because that was when he cashed the cheque). The judge found him guilty of tax evasion on a technicality, chastised the CRA investigators AND the prosecutors, and then gave him a mandatory $2,000 fine (the amount of tax delayed) with no date set to pay it. The gentleman died in 2006, 20 years later, without ever having paid the fine.. For the record, at one time I administered over 700 tax preparation offices and have had lots of chances to see more situations.
Canada also has an amazing piece pf legislation which allows YOU, the TAXPAYER to go back 10 years.
No matter what you find, the US will only allow you to go back 3 years.
Now that I have said that he CRA (and the IRS as well) only go back 8 years when there is fraud involved, if you have not filed the returns, the IRS can ask for back returns back to 1967 and Canada can go back
as far as they want if nothing was filed. Although not common, we regularly see them go back fifteen or sixteen years when someone did not file period. These are usually devastating because even a $5,000 bill in 1990 is now about $20,000 with penalties and interest.
I have seen many people's lives ruined when they were caught by the CRA and ended up with the tax massive fines, penalties and interest and sometimes a criminal conviction.. I have never really seen anyone hurt (other than financially) when they do a voluntary disclosure. With a voluntary disclosure, you get a big tax bill, no or little penalties, and an interest bill. If the results are too devastating , the entire bill can be eliminated in Canada with a bankruptcy. If you are going to do this in Canada, I recommend that you consult a bankruptcy attorney such as Murry Morrison at (604) 930-9013. You can find a link to his website on my site at www.centa.com.
Personal taxes can also be eliminated in a US Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The rules took effect in April 2005. In general, US personal income taxes can be discharged if the taxes are at least three years old, and were assessed at least 240 days prior to the bankruptcy filing. The taxes also have to have been filed voluntarily. If the IRS sent you a SFR (Substitute for Return) consult a competent bankruptcy attorney prior to filing your original returns! This is a must.
Income
taxes less than three years old can NOT be discharged in a US
bankruptcy. Tax returns filed less than two years ago
and taxes assessed less than 240 days ago can not be discharged in a
chapter 7 filing.
You
might also consider a Chapter 13 proposal in the US where you offer
payments on a dollar or a Compromise solution in the USA.
If
you do decide to do a compromise, be careful. Some of the mills being
run are just going to get you in more trouble. Watch out for heavy
pitches on television. The experience I hear from clients int eh US
and Canada is that they approached a high profile person, paid a chunk
of money and then were ignored. In one case in Canada for instance,
they did a compromise when none was needed, charged the client $10,000
up front and then prepared the returns incorrectly so that the CRA came
back with $20,000 more tax.
I
have personally left five messages for the high powered TV and radio
pitchman for the business and neither he nor his daughter have returned
a phone call or email.
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It is very unlikely that blind or unexpected email to me will be answered. I receive anywhere from 100 to 700 unsolicited emails a day and usually answer anywhere from 2 to 20 if they are not from existing clients. Existing clients are advised to put their 'name and PAYING CUSTOMER' in the subject line and get answered first. I also refuse to be a slave to email and do not look at it every day and have never ever looked at it when I am out of town. e bankruptcy expert US Canada Canadian American Mexican Income Tax service and help
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$1,700 would be for two people with income from two countries
Catch - up returns for the US where we use the Canadian return as a guide for seven years at a time will be from $150 to $600.00 per year depending upon numbers of bank accounts, RRSP's, existence of rental houses, self employment, etc. Note that these returns tend to be informational rather than taxable. In fact, if there are children involved, we usually get refunds of $1,000 per child per year for 3 years. We have done several catch-ups where the client has received as much as $6,000 back for an $1,800 bill and one recently with 6 children is resulting in over $12,000 refund.
David Ingram expert income tax service and immigration help and preparation of US Canada Mexico non-resident and cross border returns with rental dividend wages self-employed and royalty foreign tax credits family estate trust trusts income tax convention treaty advice on bankruptcy
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