When your client’s benefits are reviewed by CRA

If your client receives a letter from CRA that the agency is reviewing the client’s benefits, it could be a routine check.

So says CRA on its website, adding that it sends about 350,000 such letters every year to “make sure Canadians are receiving the benefits and credits they’re entitled to.”

Information requested by CRA could include marital status, where the client lives and who cares for the client’s children.

“It’s important that you reply and send all the information requested as soon as possible,” says CRA, to help the agency review the file quickly and easily.

Taxpayers usually have 45 calendar days to respond, and CRA says it will tell taxpayers how to send documents in its letter.

“If you can’t get the documents we’re asking for or if you need more time to reply, it’s important that you call the number provided in your letter,” says CRA.

If you don’t reply, CRA says that “your benefits will stop and you may be asked to repay benefits that were previously sent to you.”

Find more details on CRA’s website.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.