CRA letters, decoded
Updated
Most CRA letters are a request for documents rather than an accusation, and most are resolved by sending the right thing once. Each of the common ones is decoded below: what it is asking for, what answers it, and the deadline attached.
Quick answer: Most CRA letters are requests for information with a reply window, not accusations, but a few carry consequences that grow if nothing is sent. Find the one you are holding below. Each page explains what is being asked, how long you have, and what happens if it is ignored.
Almost every CRA letter has a deadline in it, and answering inside that deadline is most of the work. How these are answered, or send us the letter reference.
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Work out which one you have
Letters rarely announce themselves clearly. Match what yours says to the middle column.
| Letter | What it says | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Demand to file | The letter names a return and a date, and says filing is required | A return the CRA believes is outstanding. Ignoring it is what leads to an arbitrary assessment. |
| Personal return review | It asks for receipts or support for something you claimed | A review of your T1. Not an audit, but the deadline is real and the reply has to be precise. |
| Corporate return review | It refers to your T2 and asks questions about figures | The corporate equivalent. Usually one schedule or one number rather than the whole return. |
| GST/HST review | It asks for the records behind a GST/HST return | Support for input tax credits or reported sales. Documentation, not accusation. |
| You should be registered | It says you may have passed the GST registration threshold | The CRA believes your revenue crossed the small-supplier line and registration was required. |
| PIER report | It mentions a pensionable and insurable earnings review | Your T4 slips and your remittances do not agree. Fixing the wrong side makes it worse. |
| T4 mismatch | It says the slips filed do not match the return | Slip totals against reported figures. Common after a payroll software change or a late amendment. |
| Instalment reminder | It suggests an amount to pay by a date, and reads optional | The one letter that genuinely can be ignored in some cases — and expensive in others. |
What to do in the first hour
Almost every one of these gets worse slowly and better quickly. The order that matters:
- Find the deadline. It is usually a specific date rather than a number of days, and it is usually the only hard constraint in the letter.
- Read what is actually being asked for. Most of these want one document or one explanation, not a defence of your whole year.
- Do not send more than was asked. Volunteering unrelated records widens the question rather than closing it.
- Reply even if the answer is “I need longer”. Silence is what converts a request into an assessment made without you.
Why owner-managers get more of these
An incorporated owner files a T2, a T1, GST/HST, payroll remittances and slips, and each can disagree with the CRA’s records. Most letters flag a difference between two things the CRA already holds, so one document often resolves them. A matching letter CRA sends is exactly this kind: one of its records disagreeing with something you filed, usually settled with the document that supports your figure.
The exception is the demand to file. That one is not a question, and the cost of leaving it grows.
What the CRA is actually doing when it writes
Almost none of these letters starts an investigation. The CRA holds third-party slips, remittances recorded against a payroll account, GST/HST returns from suppliers and customers, and registry data. Most letters mean one of those records disagrees with what you filed, or something expected never arrived. In practice, a mismatch with CRA records means the reply only has to show which figure is right and what supports it.
So many close on one document because the question is narrow: which figure is right, and what supports it? Answer only that; explaining the whole year slows things down.
How long you have, and what happens if you miss it
Each letter carries its own date, and the dates are not interchangeable. A review usually gives a fixed window to produce records. A demand to file gives a date by which a return must be in. An instalment reminder gives dates for payments rather than for a response at all.
If a letter is about penalties or interest that trace to illness, disaster or a CRA delay, the reply may be a relief request on form RC4288 rather than an objection.
Missing them has different results too. Miss a review deadline and the CRA generally decides on what it has, usually denying the deduction or credit. Miss a demand to file and the CRA can assess the return from its own estimate of your income; that assessment stands until a real return displaces it, with interest from the original due date. That gap is why the demand letter comes first when more than one has arrived.
Who should answer it
A director, or a representative the corporation has authorized, can answer a letter addressed to the corporation. An authorized firm can usually see the letter in the CRA’s system and deal with it directly, which is faster than forwarding paper. If nobody is authorized, do that first.
What a good reply looks like
Answer the question asked, attach only supporting records, and quote the letter’s identifiers so it reaches the right file. Need more time? Ask before the deadline; a request on the record is treated very differently from silence.
Nearly every letter on this page is a symptom of a filing or a figure, and the tax work behind most of these letters is where that gets addressed.
Keep a copy of what was sent and when. Many disputes are about whether something was received, and only the party who kept the record can prove it.
Common questions about CRA letters
Does a CRA letter mean I am being audited?+
Which letter should I deal with first if I have more than one?+
Can I just call the CRA instead of writing back?+
What if I cannot meet the deadline in the letter?+
Do I need an accountant to answer one of these?+
Send us the letter and we will tell you what it needs and what it will take. We quote the work in writing before starting.
Email us about a CRA letter