Today we’re going to take a look at the following notifications sent by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

  1. Request for Information
  2. Notice of Assessment
  3. Notice of Reassessment
  4. Audit

1. Request for Information

This notification means that the CRA would like to see proof of something which was on your return. Some of the most common information requests are for medical expenses, home office expenses and tuition expenses claims.

Remember to reply to this request in a timely manner. If you have a CRA MyAccount then you can simply submit scans of your receipts via the online portal.

If you don’t have a CRA MyAccount, then you can always send your receipts to the CRA via mail or fax.

Make sure to keep copies of whatever you send and it’s also a good idea to let the concerned CRA official know that you have sent the documents.

2. Notice of Assessment

A Notice of Assessment is a statement that outlines important line numbers and amounts along with other vital details. It is generated when your tax return is processed by the CRA.

If you file your return electronically via NETFILE, then you can expect to receive your NOA in two weeks. If you paper-filed your return then it will take eight weeks.

Your NOA will provide information that you need to know in your future years. This includes your RRSP contribution limit, unused amounts for losses, future repayments due for the Home Buyers Plan, and Lifelong Learning Plan. If you have a CRA MyAccount then you can also find this information in the online portal.

If you find an error in your NOA then you simply need to submit an adjustment request to get it corrected.

Keep in mind that if you do not agree with the information in your NOA then you have 90 days from the date of issue to appeal the information with the CRA.

3. Notice of Reassessment

If changes are made to your original tax return (either via an adjustment or by the CRA), the update will appear on a Notice of Reassessment.

This statement also includes important line numbers and amounts but now the changes which have been made are also highlighted.

Again if you notice an error on your Notice of Reassessment, get in touch with the CRA immediately. You might be able to add missing information via an adjustment and get the error fixed.

The 90-day window also applies to the Notice of Reassessment.  

4. Audit

It’s not very common for a taxpayer to receive an audit notice immediately after filing their return unless there is something going on which has been a pattern or if the information on the return is very far from accurate.

If you get an audit notice, respond to the request as soon as possible. If you do not attempt to contact the auditor, it is very likely that they will deny your claim, assess you a balance outstanding, and send you to Collections so that the balance can be collected. At that point, contacting the auditor can be very difficult.

If you have received any of the above-mentioned notices, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We’re licensed public accountants and we’ll guide you through the entire process and make sure that your return is filed correctly and all notices are answered satisfactorily.