CRA review and audit support in BC
Most CRA letters are a request for documents rather than an accusation, and most are resolved by sending the right thing once. The cost comes from answering the wrong question, or answering late.
Quick answer: We read the letter, work out what is actually being asked, assemble the records that answer it, and respond on your behalf inside the deadline. That covers pre-assessment and post-assessment reviews, information requests, payroll examinations, GST/HST reviews, field audits and notices of objection.
What a CRA review or audit involves
- Pre- and post-assessment reviews, where a claim on a filed return is being checked.
- Information requests, which name what they want and when they want it.
- Payroll examinations and PIER reports, where slips and remittances do not agree.
- GST/HST reviews, usually triggered by a refund claim.
- Field audits, including acting as the single point of contact so the questions do not land on you.
- Notices of objection, where an assessment is wrong and the deadline to dispute it is running.
Each of the common letters is decoded on its own page — the CRA letters index lists them.
For a sales tax examination specifically, see what to expect in a GST/HST audit.
Why the response matters more than the letter
A CRA reviewer is testing whether a figure is supported. Sending more than was asked for invites more questions; sending less than was asked for restarts the clock. The useful response answers exactly what was asked, in the order it was asked, with the supporting documents attached and referenced.
The other half is the deadline. Most letters carry one, and missing it converts a review into an assessment that then has to be objected to — which is a longer, more expensive process than the review would have been.
If the assessment has already been issued
An arbitrary assessment, sometimes called a notional assessment, is the CRA filing for you when you have not. The number is deliberately high and the fix is almost always to file the real return rather than to argue. Undoing an arbitrary assessment covers the mechanics and the deadline.
The CRA letters we handle, and what each one needs
Most CRA contact is not an audit. It is a review that wants a specific set of documents by a specific date. Knowing which letter you have tells you most of what to send.
| Letter | What it is usually after | What answers it |
|---|---|---|
| GST/HST review, often holding a refund | Support for input tax credits | The purchase invoices behind the claim, showing the supplier’s registration number |
| T1 review | A deduction or credit on a personal return | The receipts behind it: RRSP, childcare, medical, moving or business expenses |
| T2 review | A figure on the corporate return | The general ledger and the invoices behind the account in question |
| PIER report | CPP or EI premiums under-deducted on payroll | The payroll records, reconciled to the T4 slips |
| T4 or T5018 mismatch | Slips that do not agree with remittances or returns | Amended slips, or a reconciliation showing why they differ |
| Demand to file | A return the CRA believes is missing | The return itself, filed by the date in the letter |
Once we are authorized as your representative through the CRA’s Represent a Client service — which you approve in My Business Account — we deal with the officer directly, send the response, and follow it to the notice of assessment or reassessment. If the result is wrong, a notice of objection has to be filed within 90 days of that notice, and we prepare it.
Want a CPA’s answer on a single CRA review or audit letter before committing to anything? The 45-minute Advice Call is a flat fee of $200 + GST for one question, credited against your first invoice if you engage us within 60 days.
What not to do when the letter arrives
- Do not miss the date. If the response cannot be ready in time, ask for more time before the deadline, not after it.
- Do not send originals, or everything you have. Send copies of what the letter asks for, organized to the question, with a short covering note.
- Do not explain without documents. A review is settled by records; a well-argued letter without the invoice behind it is still a disallowed claim.
- Do not assume it will go away. An unanswered review becomes a reassessment, and the 90-day objection clock starts from that notice.
If you find the problem before the CRA does
An error or an unfiled return that the CRA has not yet raised may qualify for the Voluntary Disclosures Program, which can reduce penalties and part of the interest. It has to be voluntary — made before the CRA starts any enforcement action on the issue — and complete, with payment of the tax owing. Once a review letter has arrived on that issue, the program is generally no longer open, which is the case for dealing with it early.
Who this is for, and who it is not
A good fit: anyone holding a CRA letter with a deadline on it, and anyone who has been assessed on a return they never filed.
Not a fit: a general worry about being audited with no letter to act on. There is nothing to respond to yet, and the useful work then is making the file defensible in advance. In either case we say so on the first call rather than quoting for work you do not need.
Common questions about CRA support
Do you deal with the CRA directly?+
We got a letter and the deadline is close. Can you help?+
Will this trigger more attention?+
What does it cost?+
The forms and the dates
A CRA review letter names the tax year, the items under review and a response deadline, usually 30 days; an audit is a broader examination and comes with a proposal letter before any reassessment. Once a notice of reassessment issues, a notice of objection (form T400A) must be filed within 90 days. Representation is set up through form AUT-01 or the CRA’s online authorization, so correspondence comes to this office rather than to the owner’s mailbox.
Who this is for in the Fraser Valley
Reviews reach Fraser Valley businesses in predictable shapes: a GST/HST pre-assessment review of an Abbotsford contractor’s input tax credits, a T5018 subcontractor-reporting query for a Chilliwack or Langley builder, a payroll PIER report for a Mission employer, a request for vehicle logs from a Surrey owner who claims the truck. Most are answered by sending the right documents once, in the form the letter asks for, inside the deadline printed on it.
What sets the fee
Support for a CRA letter is quoted after reading the letter, because the letter says what the work is. A document request for one year of one item is a small fixed fee; representation through a full audit with a proposal letter and, if it comes to it, a notice of objection is a larger one, quoted in stages so the second stage is only paid for if the first does not settle it. Clients whose books are kept here pay less, because the documents the CRA is asking for already exist in the form it wants.
Other corporate tax work
The rest of what this covers, and the page each one is on.
Talk to a CPA about this
One Chartered Professional Accountant, start to finish. Fixed fees, quoted in writing before any work begins, and no obligation from a first conversation.
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