Have you ever botched your tax return?
It's not unusual during tax filing season to discover that you botched a previously filed return. Ok, mistakes happen. Now what?
Most people don't realize that they can adjust their tax returns if they miss something and that they can often go back as far as 10 years in certain instances.
If it's a straightforward omission, you can send a letter to your tax centre requesting an adjustment to your return and completeting Form T1-ADJ, a T1 Adjustment Request.
It's a one-page document where you simply make note of the lines on your tax return you'd like to change, provide an explanation at the bottom, and send it in. Generally, there's no need to file a complete amended tax return.
Even better, many accounting and tax preparation firms will review your current or prior tax returns for free -- even if they've been prepared elsewhere -- to ensure you claimed all the available deductions and credits.
Many taxpayers miss credit and deduction carry-forward balances, for instance. Others just didn't know the rules.
H&R Block's Maureen Dos Reis, a tax planner in Princeton, B.C., has found more than $105,000 in tax refunds in recent years.
Some of the errors her office has uncovered include: a miscalculation of capital gains and losses over several years that resulted in a $62,000 refund; close to $50,000 in unclaimed disability tax credits for clients; and nearly $7,500 in refunds for long-haul truckers who neglected to claim meals and lodgings.
Have you been able to convince the CRA that you made a filing mistake? How were things resolved?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: John | Apr 21, 2021 9:05:50 AM
I file T1 Adjustments annually. I usually receive a few T3 and T5 slips long after the April 30 deadline for filing, because of mistakes made by company issuing these slips. I have also made my own mistakes from time to time, so submitting a T1-Adj on-line is no big deal. I get a re-assessment in the mail, stating the additional amount that I owe, which I also pay on-line. No big deal. No audits, no receipts or documents requested, no questions from CRA.
Posted by: Dwight | Apr 23, 2021 11:36:46 AM
I'm surprised that H&R Block found these errors. My experience with H & R Block shows them as often making the errors that cost their clients big bucks. The best thing you can do for yourself is get fimilar with a tax program and the tax system. My son recently had a tax prepare, that being H&R Block, make an error that had him owing another$2200.00 in taxes, when in reality he was owed a refund of $198.00. When he asked them to fix the error they replyed by saying they would have to charge him to correct their mistake.