Help with a CRA Notice of Reassessment

What the letter is

A notice of reassessment means the CRA has changed a return you already filed. The new figures, not the old notice, are the ones to read. Bring the letter, the earlier notice of assessment, and the slips for that year. The firm will say whether the change matches the paper you have.

Your options

You can accept the change, ask for a T1 adjustment if something is still missing, or dispute it. The audit page on the old site states the court step plainly: if you disagree with the CRA’s decision from an audit or objection, you can appeal to the Tax Court of Canada, and a notice of appeal must be filed within 90 days from the date of the reassessment or confirmation. A full audit, with ledgers and bank statements, is the CRA audit service. This page is for the letter itself.

Records

Keep the supporting documents. The general retention period the firm quotes is six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. The first conversation about a reassessment is a free initial consultation. No hourly rate is published.

The only office is in Scarborough, near Kennedy Station. You can come in or send the papers. English, Bengali and Tamil are spoken. Manoranjan (Mano) Talukder, CPA, leads the firm, which has done this work since 2010. Personal income tax returns start at $49.99 + HST. Everything else is quoted before it starts.

What the original audit page said a review is

The CRA collects tax, runs audits and administers benefits. The firm’s audit page said the agency selects files from its own lists and from outside information, then looks at source documents, sales invoices, bank accounts and the other records. An audit checks that the income and the expenses on the return are supported. It can end in a reassessment: more tax, a penalty, interest, or no change. A notice of reassessment is that result in a letter. Read the new figures, not the old notice.

What to do with the letter

Bring the letter, the earlier notice of assessment, and the slips for that year. The firm will say whether the change matches the paper you have. You can accept it. You can ask for a T1 adjustment if something is still missing and the year was yours to correct. Or you can dispute it.

The original audit page states the court step in one sentence: if you disagree with the CRA’s decision from an audit or an objection, you can appeal to the Tax Court of Canada, and a notice of appeal must be filed within 90 days from the date of the reassessment or the confirmation. The firm does not file that notice for you on this page’s description without being engaged. The first conversation about a letter, for someone who is not yet a client, is the short look the FAQ described: up to 15 minutes, then a quote if you want the firm to continue. No hourly rate is published. The old audit page also printed a free block of time and an hourly figure. Those prices are not used.

If it is a full audit, not only a letter

The audit service includes contacting the auditor, arranging the meeting at the Scarborough office, and organising what the letter asks for: the general ledger, subsidiary ledgers, year-end adjusting entries, bank statements and cancelled cheques, payroll journals, lists of accounts payable and receivable, lease and purchase documents, a list of assets, and the most recent financial statements. The firm handles the audit steps it has been engaged for. Once you are a client, the FAQ says the firm will explain how the return was prepared and deal with the CRA’s questions about that work.

Keep the records. The general period the firm quotes is six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. The only office is in Scarborough, near Kennedy Station. English, Bengali and Tamil are spoken. Manoranjan (Mano) Talukder, CPA, has led the firm since 2010.

What the firm will not call this letter

It is not a new return, and it is not automatically an audit of every year you have ever filed. It is the CRA’s change to a year that was already assessed. Compare the new notice with the return you kept and with the slips. If a slip was missing, the adjustment service is the path. If you accept the change, pay or arrange the balance and keep the letter. If you disagree, the 90-day period on the original audit page is the one to calendar, counted from the date on the reassessment or the confirmation.

The first look, for someone who is not yet a client, is the short conversation the FAQ described, up to 15 minutes. After that the work is quoted. No hourly rate from the old price table is published. Bring the letter. Do not send a social insurance number by email. The office is at 2390 Eglinton Ave E, Suite 205. English, Bengali and Tamil are spoken. Manoranjan (Mano) Talukder, CPA, has led the firm since 2010.

Put the date on the letter into a calendar as soon as you read it. The 90 days on the original audit page do not pause while you look for a slip. If you need the short first conversation, call and say you have a reassessment, and bring the letter to that call.