CRA battle shows what’s involved when you take on the taxman

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“Uptown, downtown. Nobody’s fussy, I’m a goal. Black, white, day, evening. Nobody’s fussy, I’m a goal.” ~ Joe Jackson

This lyric involves thoughts every time I get one other piece of correspondence from the Canada Revenue Agency. My family and friends typically joke that since I write a nationally syndicated tax column, the place I often spotlight the trials and tribulations of unusual taxpayers as they battle with the taxman, it makes me a goal, which is why I appear to get audited by the CRA frequently.

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Frequent readers might recall my fight with the CRA over my transit passes and, extra not too long ago, the reassessment of my 2020 work-from-home bills. My newest dispute with the CRA, additionally involving home-office bills, however for the 2021 tax 12 months, got here to a largely beneficial conclusion once I agreed to a settlement provide proposed by the CRA, and obtained my formal discover of reassessment final week.

I’m sharing the main points of my newest battle with the tax company to point out you what’s concerned if you happen to resolve to tackle the CRA — and that’s with out even going to courtroom.

Previous to March 13, 2020, I had by no means labored from house; I went to my workplace in a downtown Toronto workplace tower 5 days per week except I used to be travelling. That each one modified, after all, when COVID-19 hit and we had been compelled to work full time from house from March 2020 till the summer season of 2022, after we had a partial return to the workplace, which exists to today.

On my 2020 tax return, for the primary time in my profession, I deducted some home-office bills utilizing the detailed method. Below this methodology, which I continued to make use of in 2021, I added up my house bills, together with electrical energy, fuel and web, after which deducted a small portion of them — 6.52 per cent, to be actual — representing the approximate sq. footage of a spare bed room, which I exploit solely for work when working from house, divided by the overall sq. footage of my house.

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In October 2022, I obtained a four-page, single-spaced “assessment letter” from the CRA asking for extra details about varied objects on my return, together with my declare for charitable donations and supporting proof of my work-from-home employment bills.

For the charitable donations, the CRA requested copies of all my official donation receipts. This was straightforward for me as I preserve them in a file. I merely scanned them and despatched them alongside to the CRA for assessment.

However issues had been a bit extra sophisticated when justifying my work-from-home bills because the CRA requested a duplicate of my signed T2200, Declaration of Situations of Employment, and a “detailed breakdown of the quantity claimed and the supporting paperwork.” It additionally requested for a duplicate of my T777, Assertion of Employment Bills, and a breakdown of how I calculated the share of the bills I may deduct, in addition to “a duplicate of the ground plan of the residence with the house workplace.”

I didn’t have a duplicate of my house ground plan, however I felt that I used to be fairly conservative with my estimate, claiming solely 6.52 per cent of my complete house bills for the usage of my house workplace. I ready an in depth schedule of my month-to-month bills, full with dates and quantities, utilizing downloaded data from my on-line banking. I additionally despatched them detailed month-to-month statements for all of the utilities.

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After which I waited … and waited … and waited.

Lastly, on June 29, 2023, practically eight months after I despatched the CRA the knowledge it required, it wrote to me a second time to say that it accepted my donation declare, however was lowering my work-from-home bills by $231, which represented a denial of the 6.52 per cent of my web bills. The company mentioned that as a result of “your web service is bundled together with your TV, we’re unable to allocation (sic) the corresponding quantity since quantity for TV isn’t eligible.”

This letter was adopted up with a discover of reassessment, charging me an additional $124 of tax ($231 occasions 53.53 per cent), plus $10 of arrears curiosity. Naturally, I paid this quantity instantly to cease the curiosity clock from working throughout my dispute, however filed a discover of objection.

In my objection, I famous that I frequently seem as a visitor on BNN Bloomberg to debate tax issues and have a tv in my house workplace set to BNN to maintain observe of what’s occurring all through the enterprise day. In my pre-pandemic downtown workplace, I had a TV on my workplace wall tuned to BNN all day. I despatched the CRA an image of my house workplace with the TV on within the background.

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After which I waited once more.

A few months later, in September 2023, I went to My Account on-line, the place I found that after an preliminary screening, my objection was decided to have “a medium stage of complexity.” The company went on to say that its aim “is to resolve medium-complexity objections inside 365 calendar days of the date they’re despatched to the CRA.”

This was clearly not going to be resolved anytime quickly. However I used to be affected person. In spite of everything, if I used to be profitable, the CRA would pay me refund curiosity on the tax beneath dispute on the prescribed price of seven per cent, which is healthier than the speed on any short-term high-interest financial savings account.

Lastly, on June 28, 2024, I obtained a name from a CRA appeals officer prepared to barter a deal. She had accomplished some impartial web analysis and located that the corresponding cable package deal for web solely, with out cable TV, was $99.99 monthly plus 13 per cent HST, for a complete annual value of $1,355.88. Based mostly on my employment use of house at 6.52 per cent, the CRA was ready to permit a deduction of $88.40. It nonetheless maintained that the price of the cable TV was non-deductible.

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Slightly than struggle additional, I conceded to settle, and on July 25, 2024, I obtained my new 2021 Discover of Reassessment exhibiting a tax refund of $47.10.

And it got here with $8.14 of curiosity.

Jamie Golombek, FCPA, FCA, CFP, CLU, TEP, is the managing director, Tax & Property Planning with CIBC Non-public Wealth in Toronto. Jamie.Golombek@cibc.com.

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