Best Business Attorneys in North York, ON

The VDP lets you escape penalties and prosecution for many types of tax omissions and errors. Some of the most common are the failure to file a tax return at all, not fully reporting your taxable income, or claiming a deduction based on ineligible expenses. However, there are also other violations eligible for relief such as penalties for not paying payroll taxes, or not reporting income earned abroad that is taxable in Canada. Overall, the VDP allows you the opportunity to avoid all of the penalties and most of the interest related to late filings, non-filing or misrepresented information on your tax returns.

Technically, the CRA can audit everyone. In practice, however, taxpayers are chosen based on a risk assessment. This means that you are more likely to be audited if there are indications of errors in your tax returns or non-compliance with tax obligations. For example, if you consistently report significant changes in your income, report large business losses or have not filed tax returns for several years, you may be more likely to get audited.

The CRA does not need a court order to legally garnish wages. They have the power to notify your employer directly and require wage garnishments to begin immediately.

Once it is established that you are unaware of any audit or pending investigation into your tax returns, we will help you to make a formal voluntary disclosure. This requires that you be able to provide the accurate facts and accompanying documentation from all of your tax accounts for every year where there were previous errors or omissions.

Very few tax appeals go to trial if the Appellant (i.e., you) is represented by skilled counsel. While some appeals involve all or nothing issues which require a decision from a Tax Court judge, the vast majority of tax appeals end in a compromise solution after each side has had the chance to build and communicate their cases through the various pre-trial steps. If it is clear from the evidence what the Tax Court would decide, the CRA and DOJ are generally willing to concede, as we would advise our clients to do as well. If it is genuinely uncertain, both sides usually benefit from a compromise settlement rather than rolling the dice.