You have come to this blog for more information on the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) Informant Leads or Snitch Line. Yes, the line does exist and if you are looking for the number in order to use it, that number is 1.866.809.6841.
You may have heard me speak on CFAX1070 about the CRA Snitch line, or possibly you heard my interview on CBC.ca regarding the existence and use of this line. If you have not, then let me take a moment to clear the air on this line. The Informant Leads line does exist. In fact, it has become such a popular tool for finding new collection sources that it’s increased volume of calls can be directly attributed to a reduction in the need for collections staff / auditors and investigators who were responsible for digging up new leads.
It is absolutely not possible for someone to call the line, make up a story and have someone investigated. Anyone who states that does not know the purpose of this line and obviously has no experience working in the CRA. To say that is irresponsible and fear mongering. The CRA will act on leads but there must be some proof provided. Simply asking for your neighbour to be audited because they drive a nicer car than you is not going to begin years or investigations-hell for them. If, however, you purchase an item from a retail establishment, and are charged taxes, but you notice that the teller never ran the purchase through the till, then you can be assured that they are pocketing the taxes instead of remitting it to the CRA. Or, if you notice on the receipt that they have charged you the wrong rate of tax, then you need to notify the CRA.
In one case, while I was working at the CRA, I purchased a large ticket item from a local store only to find out later that the taxes on the bill totaled 28%. I went back to the store to ask for it to be corrected, only to have them advise me that it was a “US cash register” and that the rate was incorrect. I took the receipt into the office hoping to launch an internal investigation but was told it would be 6-weeks before they were able to look at it.
So I walked over to a phone beside my desk, called the snitch line, explained the issue and after providing the receipt as proof, found that an investigation was launched the next day and heard through the grapevine that over $200,000.00 was recovered from the company.
That is where the snitch line can be put to good use.
If, however, you hear your neighbour bragging about how much money he makes under the table and he lives way better than you do? You can call the snitch line. Or if your ex-spouse is unwilling to file their outstanding tax returns because it would mean they would have to increase child support payments, then you can call the snitch line. The CRA will take the information, begin with an internal investigation to see if there is merit, then possibly drop by the home or business to get a feel for whether an audit is required or if a net worth assessment is needed.
At the end of the day, the intention of the snitch line is to provide a direct link to the CRA’s Audit department and it assists the CRA as they use these “tips” to recover funds from professional tax avoiders.
Key words the CRA likes to hear includes;
Their names, their address, an amount of unreported income greater than, say $50K, maybe a second set of books, or 2nd property in the name of their cat…
It never hurts to call.
It always hurts to not call.
This line is anonymous and believe it or not, the majority of “tips” come from exes who are left holding the bag while their ex-spouses are living it up.
I figured I would post this since it is the most frequently asked question I get. Yes a line exists and yes it gets acted on… and fast if the dollar amount to be recovered is high.
I have actual experience seeing this line work and I know for certain of instances where people have called this line in effort to discredit or attack someone and at the end of the day, the CRA has investigated that person or party and punished them for making a false claim. Those in glass houses should never throw stones.
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I am bothered – my brother in law always has a wad of cash, pays everything with cash, never uses a credit card. He has his own business and I know he does jobs for cash. His brother has his own business and went to jail for tax evasion. I am concerned for my sister because he will get caught eventually, it is inevitable when you buy everything with cash. I have my own business and declare everything. I like our hospitals, health care, roads, community centres. I am proud to be Canadian. I am poor by comparison, paying tons of taxes, and will never really build wealth with my business but it’s more about being home for my kids, even though I work a ton of hours a week.
What would you recommend
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so you and I get to pay the taxes that your brother is not paying. I am sure he has a health card etc…. and uses it. Probably gets HST credits quarterly. You can either continue to let him rip all the other Canadian Taxpayers off or make it so he pays his fair share!!!! And have the nerve to brag about it. We should be paying for him to stay in a federal jail cell!!!! Tell your brother “thanks for ripping me off” inconsidrate bastard!!!!!!
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could I have a mailing address where documents could be sent
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Hi Sam,
Are you sending documents to the CRA? Have you made a call to the Informant Leads line? If so, the assigned auditor will reach out to you for that information.
If not, what forms did you want to send and to whom did you want to send them to?
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My ex wife has lived at a shared address with the same man for over a decade (common law) they file their income tax separately, her common law partner gives his address as being on a reserve, he does not live at, They both collect GST/HST, she has collected child tax benefit for those 10 years on 2 children, my youngest son just turned 18 in May. The reason I ask is I have always filed my taxes and paid child maintenance, but I was injured and I asked the court to adjust my maintenance payment to my actual income and she flipped saying she only made $10,000.00 last year and needs my payment, that’s when I clued in that something wasn’t right.
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My daughter’s Ex has paid tax on dividends earned from his employer for the last several years. His father owns the business. Now that he has walked out on his family he has signed legal divorce papers saying in them that he has never owned shares or received dividends from the company. How can this be? He had often bragged about owning shares in the company.
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Hello Brenda,
I’m sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
This can be solved quite simply. If he has been receiving dividends from this family business then the family business would be required to provide him with a T5 slip. A copy of that slip is provided to him for income tax reporting purposes, and a copy of that is sent to the CRA for their record keeping purposes.
If he is telling the court that he never received any dividends from the corporation, your daughter only needs to ask for a copy of his tax returns to be provided. If, however, he shows a return to the court without the slips, the CRA will have them on file, and if for some reason they do not exist, then the CRA would certainly be interested to know that something fishy is going on and that would certainly prompt an audit.
Either way, it would solve this problem and put this issue to rest.
Good luck,
Warren
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hi can anybody allowed to get child tax credits, hst credits and all other benefits from canada government when kids are not going to school in Canada and spouse is also with kids living in other country. what type of proofs I can give for this information
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Hello Maria,
The tax child tax credits are meant for parents who have children in Canada, however the HST rebate is available if you are living in Canada. You can search the CRA website (www.cra.gc.ca) for additional information.
The Canadian government’s tax system relies on self-reporting so if you claim something which you are not entitled to, they may or may not catch it. If they catch it, they may or may not change you a 50% penalty in addition to asking for the money back and charging interest.
It’s best to read the CRA website yourself to see what you qualify for, or speak to your accountant.
Hope this helps!
Warren
On Sun, Dec 8, 2013 at 2:12 PM, In-TAX-icating
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Hi there,
My situation is a bit complicated. This is a great website and I am looking for some sage advice.
I had left Canada temporarily in 2013 to work for a year and will be returning this year in 2014 for graduate studies. During the time that I was out of the country, I was awarded GST/HST credits for tax that I had filed for 2012, although my income for 2013 has remained below the 10,000 level. At the time, I could not declare non-residency not only because I was coming back in a year, but also because we were trying to protect a family friend whose residency requirements were still going on. I am not aware if I could have applied to school had I become a non-resident.
At the moment, I have a couple of relatives who know of this and although they have done the same thing as well, may want to report me for claiming credits I do not deserve. I could blow the whistle on them as well,but my defense is that I am a factual resident, as I still have a bank account, a health card and residential ties in Canada and will be going back soon.
Am I at increased risk here?
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I worked for a small family run business for many years. The owners wife also had a business and for the last 20 years has been receiving all her supplies that she provides services with from her husbands business at no charge. She has never paid tax on anything she has received and re sells alot of the products to customers for cash and pockets the money. He has never claimed on his taxes that he has given anything away, he just counts it as a loss of inventory. He also took $50,000 cash out of the business and put it in his personal account but didn’t pay any taxes or claim it in any way. I also know for a fact and have proof that his business taxes are fudged by the accountant ever year. Where do I go with this information?
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Hi Teresa,
The CRA Informant Leads line is where those details should be directed. It will likely trigger a phone call to verify receipts, then an audit of there appears to be something out of the ordinary.
Thanks for your comment.
Warren
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My ex is a Cdn. citizen who has not filed a return in Canada since 1979 although he has a residence here , a bank account and health care and DL . He works as an expat in the oil industry and puts his money in offshore accounts. He also maintains Australian citizenship and his investments are all there. What laws might he be breaking?
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Hi Pat.
Many of them, actually.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has recently announced an incentive program through their “Informant Leads” line (also known as the Snitch line). If you call the line with this information, you may be eligible for a cash reward from the Canadian government. All you need to do is Google CRA informant leads line. There is probably a toll-free version too.
All information given to the CRA is 100% confidential and with their recent foray into offshore accounts it’s likely he would never this it was you behind it.
Hope this helps.
If you have more questions or need more information, feel free to reach out at any time!
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OK…here is one that I don not know how to deal with. My parents owned a family business for 60+ years. My Mom died last year and my brother now owns the business. For the last 15 years or so I have been doing their payroll for them.
For more years than I have been involved there has been one employee getting use of a vehicle. The deal (made by my parents and this employee) was that he would give up 1 weeks holiday for the use of this vehicle for the year. By my calculations just using the kms driven from his home to work, and work to a nearby town this should be costing about $200. per week.
After taking a course with CRA in 1997 I learned about Taxable Benefits and approached my mother and their ‘accountant’ who does their HST remits for them and now oversees everything, “that it was too much bother’ and ‘what CRA didn’t know would not hurt them’ respectively.
I printed all of the information that I could get off the CRA website and gave it to my brother and told him what was happening was wrong and he should change his policies. Nothing happened.
Situation #2 is that last year he was paying his employees on a 53 week pay period (bonuses were sometimes issued, but the decision was not made until December) and this year he decided he was going to go with a bi-weekly pay period. There are 2 employees on Salary )my son and my brother. So after the first pay of this year, I was accused of fixing by son’s pay because the hourly wage went up by about .33 per hour. I abruptly quit!!! I wrote out proof that it was the change in pay periods that had made the difference, but to no avail. So he got his ‘accountant to come in and show a receptionist how to do the payroll and they cut my son’s pay (with no explanation) back to what it was last year, effectively cutting his pay by over 700. without anything in writing.
I am contemplating calling CRA because I know they will find much more, but because my son still works there, and they will know exactly where this came from.
HELP!!
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Hi Jean,
There is a very simple solution here. The CRA regularly performs payroll audits for compliance issues, or just to make sure the B&R’s are in proper order. Maybe it’s their time.
If you called the Informant Leads line, and leave your concerns there, they will certainly request and audit, and what will probably happen is that the CRA will fix the mistake or adjust the records to record the new way of filing, and they send the taxable benefit out for a ruling.
I can’t see that they would be able to trace an audit back to you as they regularly perform all the regular audit steps and include the reason for the audit in there so they would have a difficult time knowing unless you told them you would have them audited.
Your family can also do the same based on their now reduced pay…
Hope this helps!
Warren
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So, I have a family member who finally and recently separated from her abusive, alcoholic husband. He has his own business, and was always bragging about all his money and showing off his wad of cash. Now I learn that he claimed just $6000 in income for 2012 and this year he says he made $16,000! This is completely ridiculous, and he is doing tons of work under the table. He has an antique car, a truck, cube van and two trailers. he also has a cottage. He has an employee who he pays cash, and who is on social assistance without declaring his income.
She, on the other hand, has modest wage income. We are worried that she will end up having to pay him spousal support!
My question is this: Suppose we call the snitch line, he is investigated, and he ends up owing a bunch of back taxes and penalties. Is there a risk that she will end up being liable for half that debt? The business is in his name only, and she did not work for the business, except maybe to help him send an email once in awhile.
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Hello George,
Thanks for the comment.
The only way a spouse could be held liable for a tax debt is if she was a director of the corporation (if it was incorporated), or if she was a de-facto director (he is the director but she carried on the operations).
The only other way she could be liable is if, for example, they jointly owned an asset, like a house, and because he had a tax debt he gives her his share of the asset for less than the fair market value (like giving her his share of their house – valued at $300,000 – for $1.00). In that case, the CRA can, and will, assess her for his debts.
It’s very common.
If none of these situations exist, the CRA would love to hear about him, as they are really ramping up their “Net Worth Audit” program whereby they look at declared income and everything else to see where there is a discrepancy.
Hope this helps!
Warren
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My ex and I are legally separated.I of course am entitled to my share of his pention.The amount was 25,ooo.oo.Acourt order was in an affect.He retired early 3 years ago,and got over 1000,000.00.He spent it all even mine.He owes revenue Canada over 68,000.00.So my lawyer made a deal 2 more years of spousal support and put a fist charge on his estate for my pention when he dies.After the fact I found out he transferred a truck worth 38,ooo.oo to his son to hide an asset,not only from me but revenue Canada.I have reported all this information to revenue Canada,because this truck could have been sold and I would have got my pention.First question will revenue Canada take my money to which by law I am entitled,and will they check what I have told them and make him sell iit for money owed to them………………………..
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Hi Marg,
The CRA will take it, if they choose to assess the son for the transfer and pay down the debt.
They also look at formal orders of support.prior to making decisions, so keep on them if you are in need of any of those funds,
Chances are slim, but you never now!
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Would you please remove my last name
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my nephew and his wife lived common law for 3 years and 2 of which they had a child. He owns his own business and has faithfully filed his returns each year, but had always claimed single to allow her to use her lower income on her own returns. What he did not realize was that she was collecting huge benefits and tax breaks and did not know she was using his own parents address as her place of residence, nor did they. They are in a custody battle and he needs to discredit her ability to tell the truth. Will this adversely affect his own returns? Would he have to pay back anything, he didn’t claim her or get any tax credit because of her and their son. But she on the other hand reaped the benefits and he had no idea until now.
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Hi Jo Jo,
Under this scenario, I would suggest having an accountant re-run his tax return twice. Once the way it was previously filed and secondly claiming her as being married to him and see what the difference will be. That should give more than enough information to decision on to re-file / amend, or let it be.
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My brother rents a condo apartment to my mother at a below market rate, he claims the rent and associated expenses, my mother also claims the rent as a rent expense. This doesn’t seem right is it?
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Hi Nancy,
He has the expenses of maintaining the unit, however he also has to declare the income from renting it out. Your mother does get to claim the rent as an expense.
Is there more going on?
Regards,
Warren
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You say this is an anonymous line yet seems we have to leave our info as well,
how does this work? pls and thank you
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Hi Marlene,
If you are referring to the local informant leads line which is used to track down and assess individuals in Canada, then yes, it is anonymous, as the lead is written up and no mention of the person who initiated the lead is ever left with the file or added to the computer systems.
Contact information is taken for the purpose of ensuring that the claim is valid and legitimate and not a waste of the CRA’s resources.
I personally have used the line – while working at the CRA – to notify the CRA of businesses who were either pocketing tax, or who were charging a rate of tax far beyond the normal rate of tax and keeping the difference as it was the easiest way to get the ball rolling plus it was out of the jurisdiction of my home office.
In one case, I left my name and contact information, and in the second case I left nothing. No name, no phone number, nothing.
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My ex has been living in a common law relationship for the last 2 years, but has been claiming separated in order to receive full child tax, gst\hst, UCCB, childcare subsidy benefits, is this something that should be reported as if not fair to those families that actually need those benefits.
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Hi James,
You could, however, these situations regularly get flushed out by the CRA and the penalties and interest they charge are quite large once they claw it back.
The informant leads line will take calls and move forward with an audit if the expected recovery is greater than $50,000, otherwise they just make a note in the file and let the call centre of collections officer bring it up.
Unless you have proof, such as your ex’s address being the same as their partner’s then it’s likely the CRA would not move forward on this, if at all.
Hope that helped.
Regards,
Warren
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So CRA won’t do anything to stop them from claiming single and make them redo past returns to make it right and going forward to be sure they aren’t receiving benefits they aren’t entitled to if it isn’t upwards of 50000.00?.
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Reblogged this on inTAXicating and commented:
A timely refresher on the CRA’s Informant Leads line aka the snitch line, not to be confused with the new offshore snitch line which pays rewards.
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Hi Warren, great site and thank you for taking your time to answer all these amazing questions.
I want to report someone to the snitch line, I was wondering how detail and how much information does the CRA want? My report has turned into an essay with details on how the person is evading taxes and conversations between him and other people teaching them how to evade taxes. Should I go into that much detail or is it sufficient to just give names , business and just a few points on what they are doing?
Thanks,
Todd
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Hi Warren,
Thank you for the great, informative site and the forum to ask questions. My question relates to the CRA Informants Lead lines. I have been separated for 5 years and am hoping to be divorced later this month. Last year, as I was preparing to head for trial to settle our long term marriage (which we settled out of court, a week before), it came to light that my ex-spouse had done some financial transactions unbeknownst to me during the marriage. In particular, there was a large hidden investment that he made in both our names without my signature on the investment and a clearly forged signature on the withdrawal. He quickly funneled the proceeds through a joint account and transferred almost the entire capital gain to his father just months before our legal separation date, thereby taking it out of our net family property calculations. Neither he nor his father claimed the capital gain on their tax returns. In addition, he has not claimed rental income from a property purchased in 2003 from his employment proceeds and put in my name (i was a stay at home parent with little income). His accountant advised him in 2013 that he needed to claim it, as the income was attributed to him, but his solution was to leave his accountant and prepare his own tax returns. He recently submitted his most recent tax return for annual support review, where it shows he is still not claiming the rental income and there is also an $11,000+ management fee for $500 in investment income, yet no asset disclosed in any financial statements during separation that could substantiate that kind of fee. My lawyer has sent his counsel a letter stating that he needs to re-file claiming all income.
My questions are:
1. Despite my not knowing about transactions during the marriage and never seeing his tax returns until after separation, am I liable for any penalties or tax he may owe?
2. Am I legally bound to report his mis-filings? If he were audited and I didn’t report it, could I be held accountable in any way?
3. Any other thoughts?
Many thanks for your reply.
Ann
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Hi Ann,
I’m sorry that it has taken me so long to get this back to you. I hope your situation has improved and everything is in the process of being filed up to date.
Your exposure to the CRA lies in anything that was done / or income not reported which ties to your Social Insurance Number (SIN).
So if that property is also in your name, then you will be held liable for the debts. If, however, it is only in your soon-to-be ex-husbands name, then the best way to force him to address this right away is to call the Informant Leads line to report the people renting the property from him.
You see if he is not reporting the income, then they are not getting receipts for their payments made to him, yet they are likely claiming the deduction. Without receipts, they will be re-assessed and in turn he will be re-assessed. They will not be happy with him (but trust me, both sides understand the consequences of their actions) and that will force him to make it right with them.
Other than any assets in you name, it is important to consider any assets that may have been in his name or your name which were transferred during the time in which there was a tax liability because that is an easy, and common, assessment for the CRA to raise.
Happy to answer any further questions here or at info@intaxicating.ca
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Hi , I am the worst procrastinator and have just recently filed my income tax for the past 10 years, along with that I also put in a claim for the child tax credit. To my surprise I received a letter informing me that I would need to reaapply for it ,because some one esle has been receiving it, Which really baffled me because I have been the primary care giver for my son plus my son and I have not lived in the same province as his father since 2007 I was hoping for some good advice on what I can do. The government has informed me they are only able to go back three years due to the other person being eligable and dont get involed and do not like to debit the other person account ,even though I have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that my ex has been frauding the system and has stoled over $ 27,000 from them and my son. I am truly outraged by this . That man has never paid a cent of child suport and i have never really asked , I have raised my child all by myself some times working two jobs just to get by,My son is now 19 yrs old . He gradutated for highschool on the honor roll to boot and is now paying his own way through school. so i was so hoping to receive the child tax credit back pay to give my son who truly truly deserves it. Any way I got a little off topic…Is there anything I can do at all. The person I spoke to for the child tax credit said I could file a civil suit , but will that actually get any results? I am not letting this man get away with this he has gotten away with to much already and he cross the line . so any advice will be greatly appected , I just need to know where and how to start. thank you for your time
Thank you,
Kelly
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Hi Kelly,
Thank you for the question. I don’t like to hear about situations like this, because, if the CRA is unable to help you, who is?!?
To be honest, the CRA does not like to touch these because they are “make-work” projects and nobody likes to do work, especially when there is not black or white answer.
Here is what I recommend, and what I have done for others in the same situation.
You have filed your taxes and you applied for the child tax credit each and every year and were denied. You then go back to the CRA officer who denied you, and you tell them that you will provide all teh supporting documentation necessary to prove without a shadow of a doubt that you incurred these expenses and thus are entitled to the deduction.
Furthermore, you don’t care how the CRA has to go about dealing with a taxpayer who has committed fraud by claiming the deduction.
You will also keep in the back of your mind that the CRA regularly re-assess people who claimed this deduction but the CRA had doubts, or there was missing paperwork, and they do that by disallowing the deduction and sending the person a revised Notice of Assessment indicating such.
It happens all the time, and for someone to tell you to go to court is either: new, lazy, or taking a wild guess at how the world operates.
I would not tolerate excuses.
If this person continues to give you a hard time, you are within your rights to ask for a new assigned officer, to speak to a Team Leader, or go through the Director of the Tax Office in question or through your Member of Parliament (MP).
Please keep all of us posted on your progress!
Hope this helps.
Warren
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Hi,
I am wondering if the snitch line will listen to me if I am not someone directly involved in the situation. What has just been revealed in my family is that one family member has forged the signature of another family member to take out loans from the bank for over 10 years. They have opened two restaurants in this time and even after confronting said person they deny that they have forged any documents. They somehow had access to the SIN numbers of our other family member. I do not have hold of the illegal documents but would reporting this situation be of help? Also, what pieces of information would the CRA need if they were to investigate.
Thanks
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Good morning Victoria,
The CRA only has a vested interest if there are taxes owing at the end of the day – either because of undeclared income or someone lying and cheating on their taxes.
If you had ended your description with a comment such as; “and the person taking out the loans is hiding $250,000.00 in undeclared income from the restaurants” then the CRA would be all over this.
Otherwise, I don’t see the CRA getting involved.
Regards.
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I have been separated for nearly 3 years. My ex refuses to provide copies of his t4’s and I KNOW he is hiding income. Even if he provides the main income t4’s, I know that there is one he is hiding. He is hiding the income so he doesn’t have to pay the proper amount of child support. In years past, his income has gradually increased but mysteriously has been declining since the separation. It’s not a huge decrease per year ($5000-8000) but I know he is earning a lot more than he is accounting for. What steps can I take to get CRA to review his taxes? Are they able to look at bank records? Can I remain anonymous? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you
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Hi Kristen,
You do remain anonymous when you contact the Informant Leads line, however, the cases which receive priority at the CRA involve those which the CRA can assess $50,000 in undeclared / undisclosed income.
Unless there are other hidden sources of income it is unlikely that the CRA will step in at this point.
Regards,
Warren
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Hello,
I suspect that a beer delivery service, & some of its Colombian drivers, are not declaring tips given to them,or the money from the many empty beer cans I give them, as part of their incomes to the CRA..
The owner claims to be running 3 such businesses locally, & so has a fair number of drivers.
Please advise if its worthwhile notifying the CRA, or not.
Tks.
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Hello again,
Awaiting response to my query posted on 5/Aug./2015.
Any help would be appreciated.
Regards,
R. Downie
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Hello yet again,
Please advise a.s.a.p. before I proceed further with my complaint against this owner & one of his drivers in particular.
E-mail me directly at (rpdowniejr@gmail.com).
Thanks,
R. Downie
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Hello,
I was going to a tailor for some time. She runs her business from her basement for about five years already. She works for cash only and never provides receipts. So, I assume she never pays taxes. If I report her to CRA will they take any actions? Your advise would be appreciated. Thanks, Elena
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Thanks for the comment / question.
You would be surprised how many people work for cash (not illegal) and do not issue receipts unless asked for, yet who file their taxes in full and have supporting documentation to support their income claims.
I guess what I’m suggesting, is do not judge a book by it’s cover…
Let the CRA do that!
If she lives in a $3-million dollar house and drives every fancy car available and boasts about not declaring income, then it’s a different story.
Otherwise, it’s unlikely the CRA will get involved.
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My husband left me last year and is an IT government contractor. He claimed my kids on his taxes and me too even though we lived together less than half a year last year. Anyway he has money in offshore accounts that I found out about after the split I found documents. He did not claim this stuff on his taxes. He is not paying me any support payments. I am going to an attorney in a few days. I want to call the tip line on him but he already has field agents knocking on his door as he got in trouble for not paying taxes 10 years ago. Should I report the offshore stuff not sure why they agent is knocking on door…he owes 80,000 in back taxes according to him.
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by the way my kids are from a previous marriage…we were married in 2013…one of the kids is an adult but was living at home for part of that time…I called CRA but still confused on what to do.
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Hi Kay,
This is a matter for the CRA to investigate and any additional information that you provide them will go a long way towards helping them determine his actual income and thus help you get a better result when you go back to court.
Regarding the offshore income, the CRA has a separate snitch line for offshore funds and that line offers a “reward” of sorts if the information you provide net the CRA some sources for which to assess / tax / seize.
While the threshold is high – $100,000 – I believe, a case could be made that if he has had these funds over
a period of time, that the assessment figures will add up and eventually exceed $100,000.
Hope this helps.
regards,
Warren
As for the inaccurate tax filings, what you need to do is also claim them and when you are denied the claim, you will be assigned a case-worker of sorts, and when you provide them the details, they will allow the deductions for you and re-assess your ex-husband having now denied them for him.
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I separated from my spouse in 2015. He is self employed and has not filed or paid any taxes or CPP contributions since 2004. I tried everything to get him to do his taxes over the past 11 years, and in the end, it was the reason I chose to separate. If he is assessed and his tax debt established after my divorce is finalized, will I still be responsible for half of the debt from the years we were married even though I couldn’t make him file? If I will be held responsible, is there a way I can agree to pay half of the principal but refuse to pay half of the penalties, fees and interest since there’s nothing I could do to make him file? Can CRA seize my post-divorce assets if everything was split 50/50?
Also, since he didn’t file taxes since our children were born, I did not receive any government child benefits. Will these be taken to pay his tax debt after he is assessed or will it be sent to me for my children?
Thank you.
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Hello Erin,
I’m going to have to answer this in two different ways:
The first way presumes that he is self-employed as a sole prop, and thus any taxes owing or refunds earned will be his responsibility only. As a sole prop, it’s as if he is operating the business in his own name, so if he has not filed in 11 years and the CRA decides to assess him (either for unfiled returns, or through a Net Worth Assessment) they do that on him only. In this instance, if your divorce is finalized and the only asset married couples usually have jointly – the principal residence – has been sold and proceeds already disbursed, then the CRA can only collect from him and any assets in his name only.
You are not liable for his personal debts from the period in which you were married.
The second answer takes into consideration that his was self-employed, however he operated as a corporation and in setting up this corporation you were named a director. In that case, once the returns have been filed, or when the CRA takes collection actions, they can do so against all directors – which would include you.
There are some options / suggestions available to you in both situations – however you will likely need support if its the latter situation where there is a corporation and you are a director.
Either way, your ex-husband needs to file his returns with the assistance of a highly skilled CA so that he can claim each and every deduction and tax credit available to himself so that he will end up paying the least amount of tax legally possible. The penalties and interest are going to be very significant.
As for the children – you should be claiming them and you should be getting the deductions. If you have not been doing so, and wish to amend previous years’ returns, send me an email to info@intaxicating.ca and I’ll put you in touch with our CA who can assist you with a review of your return(s) and amending / re-filing.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Warren
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I am very worried about my sister and her 3 children. She is unmarried and has lived with my parents on and off for ever since her children were born. She is not living with her children… They have always lived aith my parents and are being raised by them. She has been receiving the child tax benefit all along. My pRents have never asked her for the money, mainly because they were afraid she might take the children. She is a good person, just mentally very immature. She is constantly getting into financial scrapes that myself or my parents have had to help her out. Now at 35yrs old, her new fiancée’s mother has reported her for child tax benefit fraud because she refused to leave her son. My sister just got a letter stating she hS to go before court To pay back over 35k. Will the courts take the children from my parents? The do not formally have custody. My sister has bought supplies for the children over the years when she did not need the money for her bills. My parents are in their 60s, and always felt that they could take care of her children without government funds. A pride issue. But will that come against them? Could they loose the children due to not forcing my sister to give the child tax benefit to them on paper?
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Hello Jane,
This is an unfortunate situation to be involved in. These are also two separate matter which may be tied together but are treated differently.
The matter of paying back the Child Tax Benefit is owned by the CRA, and the CRA does not weigh in on matters relating to custody of children unless there are court proceedings related to the custody of the kids and the CRA are asked to participate because of information they might have.
Otherwise the issues need to be dealt with on their own and quickly!
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My ex fiancé has been bashing me to other people: his family, friends, business acquaintances. I have no paper proof: other than him informing me of his debts at the beginning of our relationship (we practiced full-disclosure so we’d both know what we were getting involoved in). He had not filed taxes 4+ years. He’s now living a good life, job, security, car, etc… What would the CRA do with this information? What exactly would I need to submit/provide?
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How long does it take the CRA to investigate? If I was able to find information, shouldn’t they be able to find this information too? Do I give them basic information or everything that I have found? I’m tired of hearing about wealthier people avoiding taxes and struggling people are getting audited or owe outrageous amounts in their taxes when they struggle at below 35$K.
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Hello
My Ex is receiving CPP disability($1,000.00/month) due to an accident, but is definately working under the table for his previous employer, or has created a company of his own to subcontract for him. His pre-accident income was $80-90K/year During our divorce proceeding, I had actually hired a private investigator twice (2013 and 2015) to prove that he is working, so I did not have to pay the spousal support he is requesting, and to maybe get a little child support for my daughter. The investigators report shows him working with no visible signs of pain or distress. Our Divorce was recently finalized, no spousal support payment, no child support payments, and he took all the assets we had. However, I don’t feel right about letting him get away with taking money from people who actually need it.
I don’t care about child suport, but My daughter receives money from CPP Disability for the child benifit portion of his CPP Disability payments. I do not want this to negatively impact us, and have to pay this back if he is infact committing fraud. We can definately try to live with out this monthly amount, but would not be able to pay it back. I am now a single Mom with no child support coming in.
I am also worried that this will anger him, and he will take it out on our child, or me.
How can I be sure that this will be anonomous, and there will be no reprecussions to my daughter?
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Hello
I did not receive a reply to this. Are you able to assist me with my question?
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Good morning M,
Thank you for the follow up note. I missed your original comment / question.
I think you really hit the nail on the head in the way you analyzed this dilemma. The one part that you need to know – although it won’t make your decision any easier – is that this process is 100% confidential.
When you call the Informant Leads line, you will be asked to provide information which is used by an audit group to determine whether further investigation is required or if an audit assessment is to be issued.
At no point does or should the auditor ever mention where they get the information from. In some cases, however, it can be fairly obvious, but in cases like disability payments or EI, those departments regularly investigate cases to keep the system fair.
My recommendation, should you decide to proceed and contact the CRA, would be to not mention the topic with your ex-husband or around your child for a while so he won’t think to tie it to you. Additionally, should an assessment be launched and he does approach you, given the length of time this has been going on, I’m sure a comment like, “did you really think you could get away with this forever?” might be enough.
Now on the flip side, if the CRA asks for money back it would be from him, not from you.
Should they ever ask for money back from you, all you need to do is provide the CRA with full disclosure of assets, expenses and your ability to pay and it’s likely if the situation is how you portray it, that they will accept a favourable re-payment arrangement or not collect at all.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Warren
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I know of a family who have special need’s son. The family moved to Florida over 9 years ago, but still collecting all kinds of benefits and submitting yearly income tax in Canada even though they have not lived in Canada for the past nine years? They also don’t report the US income in the Canadian Income tax, as well as they don’t report the benefits they get as an income in their US income tax.
I feel that this is fraud. Is it?
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I need to know if someone can receive disability income and old age supplement income while lives out of Canada? or receive child care income?
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Hi Salama, it’s an unfortunate situation because there is a tax treaty between Canada and the US to avoid double taxation, so it’s likely if they are filing in both Canada and the US, they are paying double the taxation. Taxes paid in one country are deductible in the other.
That being said, if they are filing a Canadian tax return and paying taxes in the US, then they are likely eligible for the tax credits and deductions.
There are some very specific guidelines around some of these tax programs which require residence in the country while others just require Canadian citizenship.
If you are concerned, and it sounds that you are, you might want to call the hotline and ask those questions of the CRA.
Hope this helps.
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I called the snitch line on my ex wife, I was rather unimpressed…
The general impression/feel I got was that they didn’t seem to care much? I get we’re not talking hundreds of thousands in this case, but my goal was to get an audit & reassessment done on her asap since she never paid taxes on her business (second job) and used her lower declared income to extort more money from me in the form of alimony/child support (10years of spousal, she’s 34 and works full time decent wage, shared custody)… That way I would have more backup for upcoming court that she’s hiding income (there’s way more too, rental income etc…)…
Firstly I was told it would prob take a year or so before anyone even looks at this. Secondly, I have copies of her books, clients, basically a plethora of pictures and assorted documents that detail the business & the money. Also I have the name of the person renting off her, dates that all started happening etc… I offered to email the person on the phone all this, she said she had no access to email. I asked if I could upload all the data to a file sharing site and send her the link, I was told they had no way of accessing the documentation electronically? WTF I basically have everything on a silver platter for them and they’re like meh? “Can you fax it?” There’s over 200 pages/photos with fine print so no…
I ended up having to print everything and shoving it in a box and shipped it to them which cost me almost $20. I have no way of knowing if they got it, I told them it was ok to contact me for more info/clarifications no one ever did. I wanted to help them get the most facts and it just seems like they didn’t care.
Now recently I get wind the ex closed her business and sold off everything that related to it, it’s just going to make it harder to prove what was actually going on now.
Makes me wonder how much I could have gotten away with when I had a business had I been dirty…
Like I said we’re not talking big big money, but there’s somewhere around 50K in undeclared income from the business over the past 2 years, plus an unknown amount of undeclared rental income over the past year & a bit, my estimate would be pushing 8-10K for that. Add to this that she’s getting child tax benefits/credits based on a fake income… She could be potentially owe them over 10K, I don’t get it…
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living the same nightmare bro, how can the system be so hard for honest hard working people just try to make a decent living. My ex has become basically a professional crook by getting everything out of the system and more! How can anybody in this country afford a newer home a newer van and 7 weeks vacation on $12k a year. What annoys me the most is I don’t have to look to hard to find single mothers who under difficult circumstances do work hard a making ago of a honest life, these are the one that the system is for!!
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Here’s a little twist… Less than a week after writing this, my gf, who btw is awesome and did not soak her ex husband when she divorced, tells me her godmother’s mother passed away and she was going to attend her funeral. There she met up with her godmother’s kids who she was good friends with when they were kids until they moved away. During catch up, one of them tell her that she now works for CRA. Turns out her job is to investigate tax fraud/evasion! She tells her she loves it and basically gets off on finding out the details, using all these different tactics to nail these people as hard as she can… My gf didn’t say anything about my ex because that’s not her style, but she said she would give me her contact info if I want, and maybe ask her to look into it as a favor… I usually hate when people play the it’s who you know card, but this is too good to pass up!
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I know of a man running a successful business, drives new vehicles and has luxury toys like boats and rv. He has nothing in his name, buys homes in other peoples names.
Would the person purchasing a home not have to prove or claim this money they got for a down payment from this man? to buy a home you need at least 10% down, so he is giving them the cash to donthis. Inhave heard this man does owe well over 100k in back income tax so this is his way of avoiding them tracking him down for money . His workers are paid with cash so they are not covered by wsib which endangers them as well. I only have the name of his business and name
Of two people so far who have aquired homes from his cash. It just is not morally right when others struggle paying taxes and being law abiding.
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My boyfriends ex has been with her new man for over 2 years. Moved in together March of 2014 and had a baby together Dec 2014. She is still claiming single for higher child tax. She is also claiming our 5 kids even though I have the kids 50% of the time. If u call this anonymous line will they make her pay back the child tax and am I in titled to half of the child tax since I have them 50%?
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My ex and I lived together for 2 years, we had 2 kids during that time. She had custody of them when we seperated a year ago. I now how full custody of both children. If I call the snitch line will they stop her child tax benefits and uccb? I don’t care if I get the money as long as she doesn’t. She was bringing in over $2500 a month tax free between the child support I was paying ($1050) and another $1500 from child tax,gst,and whatever other money the goverment threw at her to sit on the couch and post selfies on facebook all day.
Also while we were together my ex claimed single on her taxes. I have not done my taxes in years and am going to file all my back taxes asap. I’m going to be claiming we were actually commonlaw not single while we lived together. Hopefully this snitch line helps get this mess sorted out.
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Hi there,
I am curious to know if my ex common law partner is still claiming common law on his income tax listing me as his common law partner.
If I call CRA would they tell me the last year in which he filed common law with me?
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Hello,
I am a single mother now with two autistic kids 4 y.o, 2.y.o. I had a brain surgery recently and on post operating day 6 my husband packed his staff and left.
This is not the first separation in our marriage. We were separated but living in the same apartment for years. I was trying so hard to safe the marriage for the kids.
It has been 3 week since my ex don’t even come to see kids not to mention that he does not provide any support for our kids and me after surgery. He stayted that in order to have a child support I have to go to court.
I have applied for EI but waiting for approval. Meantime I have to pay all expenses to survive by myself.
I recently found that my ex makes approximately $150K runs two corporations but he has no workers. Also I found that the laundries his money through another corporation. And he had a worker with no work permit in Canada in 2012.
I was shocked because he never spend money on family. 7 years of our marriage he bough a TV, computer (after using mine for 4 or 5 y.) and agreed to pay only half of the sofa’s price :)) , no property of course.
What could be done? How long does it take for investigation?
I would like to get a child support from my ex but based on his real income.
He threatened to leave the country, so I will be quite as always begging child support.
I would like to take a serious action in my kids best interests and if my ex leaves Canada at least he won’t be able to come back (I HOPE).
I have sponsored my ex to Canada, was providing support for every step in Canada and this is the price that I and our kids pay.
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Hello
I own a small business. My teenage children have worked for me since they were about 15. CRA called one of my children who works for me who is now 17 years old to ask him he works for my company. Because he is 17 they ask his mothers permission. My sons mother told him to say he never worked for me. This is a total and complete because he is still currently working for me. The mother is still upset about the personal issues we had while we were to together. Now cra send me a letter saying that they have evidence that my son never worked. What can I do? I feel if I provide the evidence that my son works for me could get in trouble. Can he get in trouble for this if he calls them and explain what happen? This feud has been going on for year with his mother and I.
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My ex has never paid taxes and when I brought him to court (he threatened to leave the country with our daughter) his lawyer told him he needed to do his taxes and they were shocked he never has paid them ever! Fast forward 10 years he is finally getting around to claim bankruptcy and guess what? He’s trying to get my 18 year old daughter to open a company for him so he can cash his cheques!!!! I’m so done with this rip off behavior how can i stop this from happening??? He has her brainwashed and even had her move in with him while she was young. I’m crushed that he is going to ruin her future even moreso than he already has… Advice please.
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corporation 2322650 ontario limited aka erie structures should be totally investigated from miss-holding CRA to employing illegal immigrant (using wife’s ss#)
will denekker, janelle dendekker, bill dendekker, joel denkker… we”ll see how far this posting goes those cheap bastards are on their 4th bk and still going cause they just keep flipping the bird to the Canadian revenue agency…wake the fuc up!
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I found this website after countless hours researching the subject and not able to find an answer.
My mother has passed away in 2015 and I , her son, was named an executor. According to CRA I have liabilities for her taxes and Final Income Tax.
She was in common law relationships over 40 years, but her common-law was not named executor in the Will.
In preparation to file her final Income tax, I have requested a 5 year previous taxes and discovered that she did not claim the sale of her Primary residence (jointly owned with common law) with a huge amount of land(60 acres) as Capital gain. Instead she claimed (in her 2014 prior death year) that she still occupied same residence, which was sold for over 1 million dollars in 2011 and money they received from proceeds, were invested with Bank into joined account and put to investment portfolio and they lived from Interest generated since 2011.
After her passing away, all the money in the Bank, bypassed the Estate and by survivor-ship ended up in account of her common-law. The Estate is very small, no even money to pay outstanding expenses.
My question is , if common-law is reported to CRA by me, an Executor, who will be liable for paying the taxes for unreported Capital Gain – executor from Estate or common-law from joined account?
I would like to file everything according to the rules, but clearly see that Income tax was evaded (amount would be unreported Capital gain of 650000$, in which case 1/2 is taxable)
Please advise
Thank you
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Hello I have recently received papers saying that revenue Canada believed that i am still living with my ex.. she officially moved out june 18th 2014. I on filed the separation in September of 2014 after the required 90 days separated were met.. took me forever tonget cra to clear me for my child tax credits for my two children that have been placed in my full custody by the Ontario court of justice in November of 2013. In the mail today i received another letter stating that revenue Canada requires my spouse’s or common law partners tax forms fo 2013 and 2014. I have contacted my ex asking if she filed the separation on her taxes like she should have she claims she did but did not file here 2014 taxes. . She did file her 2013 taxes. But they think we are together and want her paperwork. She moved out to her mom’s place on June 18th 2014 and has lived with her mom ever since. She has received disability the entire time and my children and i were taken off her disability in june of 2014.. the first letter asked me to submit forms proving she moved out from a list of sources for a third party confirmation . . Bank manager. . Clergy.. employer.. insurance company. Lawyer. Medical doctor.. post master. Land lord. Social service worker. . Well i don’t goto church nor have her and i ever shared a bank account with her we had separate doctors. . I asked my Ontario works worker was told they can’t disclose that information. I was able to get one from my landlord but am not able to get the second confirmation requested. Have contacted my lawyer from the custody battle between me and my ex but haven’t received a call back yet. She told me ahe hasn’t filed 2014 taxes and im only able to get one confirmation paper filed out so far. What do i do. She has received disability the whole entire time and changed everything with her worker when we split up taking me and my children off her check but now they think we have been living together. Im so confused and lost.
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What about an ex that has been living with her bf for over a year, they have a child together, and she claims single on her taxes.
She collects the UCCB, CCTB and GST for our child, and now for theirs.
We have been in a continuous child support battle since day one, and i want to know how this will affect her tax return if she was to claim properly.
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Your Ex will have to pay all of this back if the CRR is found aware of this.
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How often can you expect to be audited by CRA asking for proof that your children are still in your care and to submit proof of address, birth certificates, doctor’s notes regarding the children etc? After being audited out of the blue would it be reasonable to not expect another audit for the same purposes unless there is a death or if the family or children left Canada to reside in another country?
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My ex has been fabricating every total when filing his income tax return since 2009 for every category. He is able to claim certain things since he is a Sales Rep. He makes up every total like car repairs, entertainment, gas, etc.. He doesn’t have any receipts to back this up, but his friend who submits his return each year has cautioned him that in the event of an audit, he would be screwed, so to try to make the totals look reasonable.
Is this something that if reported to the CRA they would look into?
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Hi
I just reported my mother in law to the CRA for suspected tax fraud. She has had two basement apartments that she rents out for about $2000-2500 a month, and more on that in a second, as I feel the need to give some bavkground. She’s a former liscenced insurance agent, and she’s the shadiest woman I’ve ever met. She borrowed 15 grand from her son (my husband) in 1998 that she refuses to repay. She paid the principle in 2012 but refuses to pay the interest. She took out two insurance policies on me that I never knew about until they lapsed. I never worried about it then because I trusted her. Stupid me. Cut to 18 years later….she’s sitting on the deck with me one day and tells me “So yeah, when my dad dies I’ve got a $40,000 life insurance policy I get to cash in….DON’T TELL ANYONE” I said how is that possible?? He isn’t supporting you, and he can’t legally sign any papers because you had him declared incompetent. Then I asked why I couldn’t say anything. Like what’s the big deal? To make a long story short, any policy she has on him is invalid so the one she does have is forged. And she would know how to do it b/c she knows the ropes. She’s the greediest person I have ever met and will do anything for money. She’s on disability and her husband won’t work. I know they get money from the rental units, but I don’t know how they can afford food, never mind all the beer he drinks and all the trips they take. I have zero proof on paper she’s cheating on her taxes, but she’s defrauded ICBC and her homeowners insurance multiple times (I have actual proof of that), so should I tell the CRA that I suspect she’s not paying her income taxes on the properties? When I told her and her husband that I would be checking the MIB to see if any more policies have been made on me without my knowledge or permission, they freaked out and demanded that we return their computer tower (she had given it to my husband to fix) and not look at it at all. Super. Duper. Shady.
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If someone was married but claimed to be single on their income taxes in order to get child and gst benefits, in addition to having to pay back that money, what other penalties, interest and fines would cra assess? In addition, what if the person wasn’t living in Canada during many of those fraudulent years, would that add another layer of penalty? How about jail?
Would love the answer so this personcan move forward.
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Hi Terri,
No jail, however, gross negligence penalties which regularly equal 50% of the amount of tax owing would be assessed in addition to the having to pay the tax back.
Of course, regular collections would also be underway resulting in probable bank garnishment, wage garnishment and liens on any assets.
Between the penalties and interest and paying back the tax owing the amount can skyrocket. If, however, the CRA has not approached this person to correct this matter, a Voluntary Disclosure should be considered as it would remove the penalties and just require the taxpayer to pay the balance back plus interest.
Hope this helps.
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In legal proceedings my spouse and i were both forced to do income varifications for 2012, 2013, and 2014.
She is a dentis, and i own my own company. In her line 150 on her personal income taxes it starts in 2012 she made 8,100 in gross earning, in 2013 she made 30,000 in gross earnings and in 2014 she made 40,000 in gross earnings.
the report came back that she actually made 30,000 in 2012, 63,000 in 2013, and 81,000 in 2014.
What would CRA do in a situation like this?
If the mother is currently getting subsidy for Daycare, would they force her to pay it back?
What happens to the Child tax benifits that she has been getting in the past 3 years, would she be forced to pay it back?
When CRA does an audit, how detailed to they get, and would she be able to hide income from them?
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Hi Danny,
I’m a little unclear about what exactly has happened. As a dentist, she reported that she earned $8,100, $30,000 and $40,000 as income for those three years and then the CRA adjusted it to 30,000, 63,000 and 81,000, OR did she report the first figures while actually she earned the second amounts?
The first situation would require some proof to the CRA to correct the figures while the second situation is tax evasion.
Tax evasion is not a very smart method of tax planning because if the intent is to “hide” income from the CRA then the CRA can proceed with criminal charges.
Likely, if the CRA has proceeded with an audit (as they often do with dentists) they know something, so they are looking at your lifestyle, your income and have determined that something is not right.
They also would require her to payback all the subsidies and credits which were claimed and received if they were done in a fraudulent manner.
Probably most concerning, however, is that it would appear that the CRA is aware of this situation and will be conducting a thorough review of assets, expenses, income and deductions and they are wise to all tricks, scams and schemes so coming clean is likely the best and only option to avoid an escalation of actions.
Hope this helps.
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Hi I have a question about cctb, back in 2008 I had received a lump sum of 94,000$, from some sort of trustfund that was set up for me as a child after my father passed away, anyways I had 3 children (2 under age 6) and I was a single parent..so I was told this money wasn’t taxable and I still need to file for 08 and 09, do I claim this money and am I still eligible for cctb and universal…I went thru the money very fast and was broke within 6 months and back on assistance so I do have a t5 for that year too…please help
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Hello Jessica, You do have to file in order to claim the benefits and it’s likely that if there was a T5 sent, the CRA already has a copy on file and they have likely adjusted your file to account for it.
I strongly recommend filing those returns. Ask your accountant to run those periods through his/her tax software and see what the net result will be. This way you will be prepared in case you owe money.
Hope this helped.
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Hi Warren,
If you were a person that worked under the table, how would you report your employers, without ending up in trouble yourself? What does the CRA look for?
People are breaking the law to feed their families. It doesn’t make it right or lawful, but some suffer at the hands of the people who exploit this. Being paid way below minimum wage, having no rest or meal breaks, and suffering verbal abuse and sexual harassment are things experienced.
Any help would be appreciated.
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Hi John,
Must have missed this post, but worthy of a response because it is such a great question! They cannot. They cannot claim to have employees because in order to have employees they would have to have income to pay the employees plus income generated from those employees. Now if the employees were in the form of say, nannies, then obviously there does not need to be income earned in that scenario, but there does need to be a rationale as to why these employees are necessary and proof of payment.
In event of an audit, it would open a huge can of worms, as they say.
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Hi Warren,
Can CRA get information by request from CIC? I have information about one man who works as a cook (maybe chef) for cash 12 hours per day basically without weekends in one of Montreal’s restaurants and gets welfare in the same time for several years. I do not know his name but I know city and street where he lives and details of his wife’s immigration case (date of birth, date and place of her interview and landing in Canada, but not her name). She was bragging on some forum (this is only proof I have and it is in Russian language) about her husband and how he cheats the system, filing his income no more then 2400 per year and flying every other month to visit her in Ukraine.
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Hi Anna,
Thanks for your comment. This is the kind of stuff that absolutely needs to get called into the CRA because not only is this individual avoiding to pay taxes, but is also taking from the system which all Canadians have paid into. They will most certainly act on this.
I would provide whatever information you can to assist the CRA and be proud that you have done so. Without Canadians like you, everyone would continue to pay more and more taxes to pay for the scammers and cheats.
Regards,
Warren
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A few questions!
(1) I know someone who has had a small renovation business for approx 5yrs (but doesnt have an hst/gst # ) but charges taxes to the customers which I dont think hes allowed to do ?
(2) He files his taxes every year but will make up receipts (for people he didnt do work for) so it looks like hes made over $21,000 every year even though he hasnt..he doesnt give receipts to most of the customers.
(3) Hes owed over $4,000 to the CRA for the last 2yrs and hasnt paid anything to them at all, what can happen?
(4) If I were to call on this person what would I say or need to have as proof etc? Im his girlfriend of 9yrs so dont what to get into trouble etc…
Please help me with answers etc
Thank you
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Hi Jenn,
The answers are as you likely know, no, no and no.
You cannot create fictitious numbers on fake invoices, and you cannot misrepresent earnings, or take trust funds (GST/HST) from people only to pocket in rather than reporting it. None of the tings you mentioned are allowed, and worse, they are criminal in nature and result in jail.
All you need is to call and provide the details. I don’t believe they require the relationship information, but if it furthers your case, then it’s worth adding.
All the information discussed is strictly confidential in nature and the CRA won’t tell anyone, anything.
Hope this helps!
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Hi My x husband is showing zero income on his 2015 tax return, he has his own business and claims that her earned 45000.00 gross, zero income, he didn’t claim a T5 which we had to share, I claimed my portion but he never did on his tax return. I don’t know what to do I will have to pay him child support and he will not have to pay me nothing, how unfair when I know he makes more money than claiming, plus all the cash, living in a brand new home, new furniture, cars and has remarried, big wedding and honeymoon.
What can I do???? I am a single mom just making ends meet, working 2 jobs.
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Call the CRA’s informant leads line and tell them! That’s what they are there for. They’ll audit him.
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Hello, I am curious about this whole new sharing economy. We have a neighbour who since January had been renting out her home as a short term rental (Minimum stay 2 nights). It essentially has been operating like a hotel taking bookings through Airbnb, kijiji and Facebook. It has been a very popular rental as it is right on the lake making up to $1,400 a week. I know the CRA with Airbnb have started this year to email its members a reminder at tax time to file taxes on their rental income. However, how can this income be tracked when these places are not registered as a business and are taking bookings through multiple sources? Even if the CRA investigates, what is to stop the owner from saying that they had friends staying there most of the time who didn’t pay rent which is why it appeared to be booked solid. Should we contact the CRA anyway and have them investigate?
Thank you,
Giovanna
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Hi Giovanna,
The CRA might be many things, but they certainly are not stupid. They can request information from service providers like Air BNB and determine if it is being rented out, heck, they could even try to rent it themselves and ask questions about it to the owner.
It’s a very dangerous situation to be in for them, especially if the CRA is aware of the rental situation.
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Hi Warren,
Do you think the CRA would be interested in a company that allows its half dozen or so sales employees to use their work vehicle for personal use, but doesn’t charge a taxable benefit (or calculates a taxable benefit of about 10% what it should be)? Would this be worth their time, or would they pass. Would it make a difference if you could provide them with proof that a specific employee was receiving this taxable benefit without paying the appropriate tax?
Thank you,
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Hi Mark,
They most certainly would, but the return for the CRA must be significant. If it’s close to $50,000, then they would jump all over it. If it’s closer to $30,000, then they might investigate further. If it’s much less, however, then it’s unlikely they would take action, instead wait until there was an audit and act then.
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In the past year, I found out that my mother signed her house over to my brother, She is not well so we do not why she did that. We did a property search and found it took place in 2006. Mom was removed and he became beneficial owner . Over the years mom continued to pay all utilities, property tax and the upkeep on the house (new roof, furnace etc). What I noticed on the property search my brother listed his address as mom;s address. He was married a few years before that and did not live at mom’s at all. The value stated at time of transfer was zero. A couple of years later he made the house joint with his wife.Mom was moved to a senior residence, so my brother sold the house giving mom nothing. She went through her savings quickly. He has also told the rest of us, any expenses over mom’s pensions and her funeral cost will be divided among us. The guy never paid into mom;s house, so why he thinks he should take it from her is beyond me
Since he listed his address as mom’s address when she transferred the house, I have a feeling he attempted to avoid capital gains tax when he sold the house. Any thoughts, is this the type of stuff that should be reported?
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Hello,
I have a few questions regarding my ex. My ex currently owes over $13,000 in arrears for child support. We have gone to court and he has been ordered to pay monthly child support plus retro which makes this amount up. His employer was ordered to garnish his wages over 2 years ago but it has never happened. My ex said he will not be filing his income tax and hasn’t done so for the last two years. There is a Federal garnishee on him and this is why he won’t file his taxes. I believe he may be getting paid under the table. He’s been working with the same employer for 12 years. My questions are: 1) If I called the “Snitch Line” with this information would it get looked into, just for the fact that he’s not filing his taxes because he owes child support? 2) Will CRA look into his employer, if he’s getting paid under the table?
Thanks for your time!
Marla
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Hi Marla,
Just saw this question now, and wanted to get an answer out there for everyone to see, but yes, yes, and yes. The CRA takes these matters very seriously and failing to file returns carries a much higher penalty than owing a balance (criminal vs punitive) thus a full audit of the employer as well as a net worth audit would be the result.
Additionally, should the employer be found paying him under the table, they will be liable for the amounts owing to the CRA and could be audited themselves.
The penalties associated with these actions is significant.
I get that paying support sucks, but the alternative is downright dangerous.
Hope this helps!
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Hello
Someone I know has English students staying with her for anywhere from 600 to 1000 a month x 1 to 5 rooms occupied x 20 years = I guess a ballpark figure of 200,000 dollars
And has never reported it as income for 20 years because “It didn’t come from a job”
What would the consequence be for these actions?
Thank you in advance for your reply.
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Hi Hek,
Yes, failing to disclose income earned from rent is considered tax evasion and something the CRA does not look fondly on. In fact based on the amounts you mentioned, it would be of considerable interest to the CRA. They tend to look at situations which would result in them recovering more than $50,000 as a priority, so $200,000 is a nice figure for them.
The only concern is the proof. They would need to see some proof other than hearsay in order to proceed.
Hope this helps!
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Hi
i am so happy to find web that answer these quotations
My x husband is a millionaire showing very less income on his tax return, and i had work at his business many years before divorce
he owns more than 20 store and restaurant and i saw his (profit and loss) his total income 3,000,000 but he put 2,900,000 expenses and net income 100,000 and i know thats 100% not true , because he drives a 2 cars worth 800,000 and own a big house and hes traveling always and he paid my kid 1000$ child support and i am a single mom work 2 jobs to take care of my kid and hes enjoying the money ..
please what can i do i feel i feel so weak because he told me he will hire the best lawyer to make sure i will get nothing if i try to come after him
dose CRA help me with this situation .
thank you
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Hi Warren,
I married my wife in 2016 and she was granted a divorce in 2012, her ex husband paid spousal support, court ordered for 3 years that ended in 2015, my wife is now concerned after speaking to her accountant that her ex
husband may have continued to claim spousal support as a deduction on his tax returns after the timeframe of her receiving payments. We are now concerned that this will show up as unreported income with CRA on her account. How can we verify if this information?
He also owns his own business in a trade as a plumber and does a lot of work for cash as unreported income, he has changed numbered companies a couple of times and before the divorce claimed my now wife with income splitting showing her making more money than he made as the trades person doing the work in which stuck a single mother of 2 with a $6000 tax debt that is now paid, so the ex husband has certainly misled CRA previously and continues to pocket cash. He is also known to have multiple bank accounts moving cash around and withdrew almost $200,000 just before the divorce.
Thank you Kindly
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Hi Steve,
With supporting information and enough revenue to recover (over $50K), the CRA would love to know about this!
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Hi Warren, my brother somehow got my mom to sign over her house to him..for free back in 2005 apparently.
When mom went into a home in 2015 we found out about it. He sold mom’s house and kept all the money from the sale. I guess in order to reduce his income tax, he complete a T2201 Disability Tax credit, naming himself as the person to claim mom’s tax credit for his own use. I assume to reduce the tax owing from the sale of the house as it would have been a second residence. He signed the document as mom’s legal representative, which he is not. Her Power of Attorney clearly states two to act jointly, both signatures required. So he claimed she was disabled as far back as 2010 which they can go back and adjust his income tax and can continue to use it until mom passes away. Is this something that should get reported? It is income tax fraud!
Mel
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Hi Mel,
That does not sound like a normal situation which the CRA would allow to just happen. Obviously, the transfer of the property for nothing (or a dollar plus love and affection) is allowable, but the back-claiming of the Disability Tax Credit and then transferring that credit to a third party is not something that the CRA would allow unless there was sufficient supporting documentation.
If, however, all of the steps you mentioned, have been done legitimately, and the figures are accurate and can be supported, it’s not a matter for the CRA, instead being a civil issue between yourself and your brother.
But if there was any faking of numbers or filing for the disability tax credit when it was not truthful, then you have a tax evasion matter that the CRA should be aware of.
Hope this helped!
Regards,
Warren
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Thanks Warren, and yes he did make a false statement on the T2201 as he claimed he paid for her rent, food and clothes. All of these expenses were paid from her own pensions. He also signed as mom’s one and only legal representative which is not the case. Her Power of Attorney clearly states two to act jointly.
Warren can you remove my last name from posting?
Thank you
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Hi Warren,
I have called the snitch line (yesterday). As part of a child support agreement, my ex got 2 rental properties and I got the family home. Last year was the first year that she received the full rental income in her name only (and I no longer received my 50% share).
We have to exchange our returns to determine the following year’s child support. I noticed this year, that my income dropped by roughly my share of the rental income but hers did not increase. Plus she has added another rental property with 2 seperate renters.
My question is, that since the snitch line is anonymous, if the CRA reassesses her and hits her for unreported income, how will I know if my support payments are changed (ie go up)? If any increase is applied to her 2017 (next year’s) assessment I would see that, but otherwise I am relying on her word that she voluntarily lets me know they added $30,000 to her income. While it could increase my support payments by $200 a month, it would cost $300/hour for a lawyer to investigate… not worth it.
It sounds like this even makes financial sense for her… under report the income, set the child support rate for the year. Get reassessed at the proper rate, but keep child support the same… saves her money in the long run??
Judge warned her not to hide income, but she has done it before….
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Sorry, to be clear I receive child support payments (I don’t make them)
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Hi Murray,
You are correct, that the CRA would ultimately, catch the error, especially if you have called in to notify them, and it’s entirely possible that you may never know. What is likely to happen, however, is that the CRA might move to charge her with tax evasion, which is a criminal charge, as part of her scheme.
Ultimately, if she filed a false return, and then is re-assessed after for a higher amount, she is going to be facing likely much higher penalties that she would reporting the correct amount, and if that were not the case the only recourse you would have is to present that back to a judge, which of course costs money.
I’d like to think, and my experience within the CRA supports this feeling, that by reporting her, the CRA will take care of her tactics and make it undesirable for her to do that in the future.
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My ex and I owned an incorporated business together for many years. After I left, he closed the business and declared personal bankruptcy (as ordered four times by the court since he couldn’t supply the business accounts). He sold some of the inventory and hid the rest. He then claimed he made no money (so got out of child support), but was able to live without assistance and continue to pay all his bills including a $500/month truck loan. I believe he maintained a self employed business and sold inventory and did cash sales and service. I can see that he is selling some of the inventory on kijiji, now 3 years later. But in a bankruptcy, the CRA doesn’t really care if you aren’t making much money, do they? He’s been doing this for 3 years now. I sent the Leads program the kijiji ads and his claim in court that he made no money, but I’m wondering if it was even worth it now, since he was bankrupt while he did most of this, so he won’t owe them anything. He seems to get away with everything……
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Hi Brenda,
The CRA would not let you know if there took any actions against him for selling assets online, so you wouldn’t know if they delayed his discharge, or denied it, or if they required him to pay more money or if his discharge was provided but with lots of terms and conditions attached.
In cases where taxpayers clearly violate the terms of a bankruptcy – and this might or might not be a violation – the CRA does not sit idly by and watch.
Hope this helps.
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They did a semi investigation while he was bankrupt, but he had everything hidden back the (2104-15). I can see that now, 2 years since he was discharged, that he is selling our business inventory on line. To me, it is fraud, but not sure who, if anyone, would do anything? CRA? Bankruptcy people (since he’s been discharged and their investigation was crap since they told him they were coming.
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Hi Warren, a quick capital gains question for you! The home next to ours sold last November (’16) to a developer who petitioned (and won) to sever the 60 X 100 lot and build a second dwelling on the property. Since the purchase, they’ve been pretending to live in this existing home – leaving one of their two cars overnight in the driveway, stopping by at 5am to put garbage out on garbage day and turn on lights etc. They’re clearly masters at avoiding capital gains and we’re assuming that when the two year period has passed they’ll sell it for a large profit while building their dream home on the other half of the lot. Our neighbourhood is quite upset that a developer has moved in and is planning on jamming two properties on such a small lot, so while this is perhaps a premature question, how can we report/prove that this homeowner has never actually lived in this home?
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You absolutely could contact the CRA’s Snitch line and let them know. One of the things they have done recently when determining whether properties are purchased for the flip or to live in, is to speak to neighbours. By letting the CRA know ahead of time that this property remains vacant should allow the CRA to apply the correct ruling when they decide how to tax the owner.
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My partner’s ex wife is filing her taxes like she’s a single mother. Her agreement is worded that the children live primarily with her but it also states the children spend a minimum of 3 nights a week with their father which constitutes as shared custody. She’s been receiving the tax benefit and their agreement said her ex husband isn’t allowed to claim the benefit for himself even though the kids are here a minimum of 43% of the time.
Does the CRA are what an agreement says, he’s a canadian citizen with shared custody….unsure of if an agreement can truly waive his rights to the benefit? Is he entitled to the credit regardless of the wording of the agreement as the children are in a shared custody arrangement?
Furthermore, could she be audited because of this if we report?
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Hi Emily,
The CRA 100% cares about what a written, court enforced, agreement states. If there is any 3rd party endorsement to that agreement, lawyer, judge, etc., then the CRA is required to abide by it, and presenting that to the CRA would require the amending of tax returns on both sides, if it was not adhered to.
The way this usually plays out is like this;
Person A has an agreement from the courts indicating shared custody, hence sharing of the tax credits and deductions. Person B claims 100% of these deductions on their T1 return. Person A claims 50%. Both parties will (should) receive a letter from the CRA seeking verification. One might be denied outright, but there would be a letter to that person asking why they claimed the credits and to provide supporting documentation. The agreement is provided, a can of worms gets opened, and then 3 months later everything is resolved because the CRA accepts the one claim and denies the other.
Hope that helps.
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I have a friend who was in a common law relationship, her partner had them claim single for the last 20 years and is now threatening to call and turn her in for this. how far back would cra audit her and would they even take action just based on him calling this in? he used a seperate address because he wanted the tax breaks and had her claim for child tax benefits.
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