Sometimes, no matter how thorough we are in filling our income tax return, we can realize that we made mistakes that could end up costing us loads of money in the long run. Forgot to file a missed invoice, or perhaps lost receipt for a hefty medical expense? Your mistakes may cost you missed out tax payouts or cause that you may be faced with hefty penalties for the mistakes you made on your tax returns. So what can you do when you realize that you made a mistake on your tax return that you filed? Providing you haven’t intentionally submitted a fraudulent return, mistakes can be corrected by filing the amendments to your tax return.
Common Filling Mistake in Personal Tax
Mistakes vary, and some can cause severe hardship if not addressed immediately. In Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency usually takes two weeks to process the income tax returns completed online and up to eight weeks for the ones submitted by mail. If there are any errors or missing information, the agency will typically send you a Notice of Assessment. So, at times you do not need to act immediately, however, when your account is Re-Assessed and any mistakes noticed by the CRA auditors, depending on the severity of the mistake made, the agency can request for further information, at which point you can request the amendments.
Let’s say you misreported your income which could deprive you of the opportunity to receive your refund or could prompt the agency to penalize you. At this point, you have to request the amendment of your return. Often, after sending off your tax returns, we may notice a mistake which you can rectify. It’s not the end of the world. The agency understands that it is human to make mistakes. Perhaps you were in a hurry due to the approaching deadline, or maybe it was the very first time you were filing your tax return. There are various reasons for which mistakes happen, and that can be attributed to lots of factors.
At other times, you might realize in 2017 that you made a mistake in personal tax returns filed in 2014. It is still possible to request for the amendments being done to previous years’ returns. In this case, you should send the amended returns via mail including adequate supporting documentation.
Amending the Income Tax Returns in Canada
The Canada Revenue Agency allows you to request amendments to your tax returns filed 10 years ago. That is enough time to spot the mistakes that cause you liabilities or may have deprived you of the opportunity to claim the tax refund. The recently submitted mistakes can be corrected online by logging into the CRA’s website. For older tax returns, you will have to send the changes via the mail.
For the amendments submitted online, the CRA usually takes two weeks to process, and it takes 8 weeks when it’s sent via the mail. You will receive a Notice of Reassessment once the amendments are processed. But in some cases, it can take longer.
When making amendments, you need to use the T1-ADJ T1 Adjustment request Form from provided by the CRA. When sending the form, you need to include your social insurance number, telephone number, physical address and all supporting documents related to your original claim.
To avoid making costly mistakes when it comes to filing your tax returns, it is strongly advisable to seek the assistance of a professional accountant who will ensure the accuracy of your tax return. Over a decade, our company has been assisting many people and businesses across the GTA preparing error-free income tax returns and hence avoiding the costly errors.