I just got raped by Revenue Canada...

[algonquin]

yep.

here's the dilly:

I owed $150 on my taxes this year (a delayed $500 cheque from a nasty ex-employer from 2003 didn't have any taxes taken off of it, thus throwing off a perfect year of fudiciary management).

not a big deal.

My partner owed $2700 in taxes... she worked freelance as a photographer. She didn't get taxes off. (nor did she ever get vacation pay or anything else that comes with regular employment. This was despite the fact that she worked 40 hours a week. This happens to be technically illegal, though employers do it all the time.) We we're well aware of this, but it still sucks.

not a big deal.

This year we decided to file our taxes together as common-law, because we just had a baby. We have been living together for over 4 years, and are not married. We thought filing together would simply be convenient; we did not do it to benefit ourselves. I didn't benefit us anyway.

We just got 2 letters back regarding our GST credit. It seems that the CCRA combined our incomes as a 'net family income' to recalculate our GST credit. Because we are now 'common law', we are no longer eligible for the same amount, and we must pay some of it back. Of course, the ARBITRARY date we put for the commencement of our common-law status is the date from which we must pay. The combined total is approx $1200.

now I'm pissed.

I understand the 'tax logic' behind this, but the circumstances are ridiculous. Our combined income (being around 50k before taxes) is no different then our individual incomes, so why we are no longer eligible is beyond me. We don't make alot of money, and now we have a dependent. As for common-law status, the term means nothing to us. When prompted for a date on our tax return, we made it up. What this amounts to is us burning $1200 over semantics.

Thanks for listening to my rant... I'm quite pissed. Back paying tax credits over a definition of a relationship is certainly a grudge I'll hold for awhile.

Just think... thats $1200 that could have ended up in some rich pig ad-executive's pockets.

[domer248]

I feel your pain...I've owed well over a grand on average the last few years...no matter how creative my accountant got...

[algonquin]

^ thanks for the sympathy

[Roch5220]

Eeks. The weird thing in NYC is that your tax rates are lower if you are married, which means you get raped if your single.

[algonquin]

It wouldn't be so bad if the GST credits had been adjusted when we became common law. But of course, the problem with that is, there is no defined date where we suddenly become 'common law'. It's not like we had a wedding, right?

It's just stupid beaureacratic (sp?) nonsense.

Anyone ever had to appeal a tax return or a GST rebate? Is this ever even done?

[Roch5220]

I beleive you have to be carefull with the timing. If I try to remember my tax courses/studying, I believe their are time limits on either amending your return, or filing an appear. Ultimately, if CCRA doesn't agree with your position, you have to go to tax court. They might not care due to the small $ amount, unless they are being pricks, or they don;t want to start a precedent.

[algonquin]

Originally Posted by Roch5220

I beleive you have to be carefull with the timing. If I try to remember my tax courses/studying, I believe their are time limits on either amending your return, or filing an appear. Ultimately, if CCRA doesn't agree with your position, you have to go to tax court. They might not care due to the small $ amount, unless they are being pricks, or they don;t want to start a precedent.

thank you very much

I'll keep everyone posted on what happens, since this is so exciting

[LooselogInThePeg]

Don't feel so bad...every year the CCRA sees my name and decides to re-assess me. Why, I have no idea. But this year thanks to their re-assessment, I owe the feds $2000. Of course, one year they owed me $900 and for some reason didn't bother to re-assess me then. I didn't know about my windfall for almost two years so it's safe to say that I never would have received my $900 if somebody hadn't pointed out to me that I had a missing tax form. Gee....what coincidence eh?

[hylaride]

Originally Posted by LooselogInThePeg

Don't feel so bad...every year the CCRA sees my name and decides to re-assess me. Why, I have no idea. But this year thanks to their re-assessment, I owe the feds $2000. Of course, one year they owed me $900 and for some reason didn't bother to re-assess me then. I didn't know about my windfall for almost two years so it's safe to say that I never would have received my $900 if somebody hadn't pointed out to me that I had a missing tax form. Gee....what coincidence eh?

Hrm...this year I was reassessed and found out I got an extra $3K windfall. I got quite the return this year because I only worked half the year (I had just finished school) and I had a couple of letover tax credits for school.


algonquin, CONTACT REVENUE CANADA ASAP. They're a big impersonal organization because they have to deal with pretty much every Canadian that makes money and are probably understaffed. In the end, no matter what they say, it's up to you to calculate your taxes and prove your innocence if you're audited. I've been audited pretty much every year I went to school and the year after, because my mom did some creative accounting to get some extra tax credits (she is a single mom AND makes decent money).

Before I say anything else, I am not an accountant, nor have I ever been married. Confirm this with somebody who does this for a living.

Algonquin, do you and your wife make roughly the same amount of money or do one of you make significantly more than the other? I'm assuming one of you has been taking it easy on work with a new baby, so i'm also assuming that one of you makes much more than the other. You both still applied individual returns, right? In Canada, I am quite sure that everybody has to still file their own returns if they made money. If you just ticked the "married" box and added your wifes earnings onto your return, then that may be your problem. There is no "filing jointly as a married couple" option; that is an american thing. If you filed one return, the government just saw one person who made a lot of money. It is up to you to split the income properly with your wife to get out of the higher income tax brackets. GST tax credits are a different matter. You may have saved more in income taxes than the GST by filing jointly. This is what you have to double check. You should probably speak with an accountant this year, as you've got some more complicated things to work out.

Originally Posted by algonquin

My partner owed $2700 in taxes... she worked freelance as a photographer. She didn't get taxes off. (nor did she ever get vacation pay or anything else that comes with regular employment. This was despite the fact that she worked 40 hours a week. This happens to be technically illegal, though employers do it all the time.) We we're well aware of this, but it still sucks.

If she worked freelance or as a contractor, then the above is is not illegal. If she was paid a salary and/or was hired full time, then it's time to get a lawyer. If your wife was a contractor, it's time to crack open the 'ol accountint 101 book and see if she qualifies for any expense deductions. You can probably deduct most things she paid for herself (film, etc).

[TS1]

What the hell's a GST credit? LOL - I know - I don't even bother looking at those forms. Ya fill them out and then have to put a certain % of your income on the bottom line ("if the diff is negative enter 0"). I can't remember ever getting money back from the tax man - and just think - me and 9 other idiots paid all our taxes for one year so some ad agency in Montreal could kick 300K back to the Liberal Party - cash that could have been spent making the lives of a few ppl more tolerable that more than likely went to buy steak dinners for a bunch of fat-cat crooks at a fine establishment.

Well, that's Canada in 2005 - these dudes are up in the polls. For shame Canadians, for letting this happen. And on the anniversary of VE day, to think that ppl of a different generation laid down their lives for this country. It's a good thing many of them have passed on so they don't have to witness that things have deteriorated to the point that contemporary Canadians will accept this as cavalierly as they do. Pathetic lot we have become.

[hylaride]

Originally Posted by TS1

What the hell's a GST credit? LOL - I know - I don't even bother looking at those forms. Ya fill them out and then have to put a certain % of your income on the bottom line ("if the diff is negative enter 0"). I can't remember ever getting money back from the tax man - and just think - me and 9 other idiots paid all our taxes for one year so some ad agency in Montreal could kick 300K back to the Liberal Party - cash that could have been spent making the lives of a few ppl more tolerable that more than likely went to buy steak dinners for a bunch of fat-cat crooks at a fine establishment.

Well, that's Canada in 2005 - these dudes are up in the polls. For shame Canadians, for letting this happen. And on the anniversary of VE day, to think that ppl of a different generation laid down their lives for this country. It's a good thing many of them have passed on so they don't have to witness that things have deteriorated to the point that contemporary Canadians will accept this as cavalierly as they do. Pathetic lot we have become.

The fact that this one instance of corruption is such a big deal should show a lot about Canadians. When the non-competative contracts for reconstruction in Iraq were given to Halliburton and other companies that the bush administration gave, including millions in kickbacks, the republicans saw an increase in the vote.

Scandals were there with mulroney, the ontario conservatives, ralph klien, etc. All countried have them. Many keep electing the scandalees.

[salvius]

Originally Posted by hylaride

Scandals were there with mulroney, the ontario conservatives, ralph klien, etc. All countried have them. Many keep electing the scandalees.

Yep, just look at PM Berlusconi. We got nothing to compare to that.

[Lucky 24]

ahhh...I got $650 back....the joys of being a student.
I fear the taxes once I start working for a good salary.

[TS1]

Yep, just look at PM Berlusconi. We got nothing to compare to that.

When the non-competative contracts for reconstruction in Iraq were given to Halliburton and other companies that the bush administration gave, including millions in kickbacks, the republicans saw an increase in the vote.

So, this makes it OK then. Well, it is just like I said previously - "that's canada in 2005". Corruption is OK as long as everyone else is doing it. This is a pretty slippery slope. I suppose the solution is to re-elect those who were in this game, thus vindicating them, so they won't even bother to try to cover it up any longer.

I stand by what I said earlier - what a pathetic lot we've become.

[salvius]

Originally Posted by TS1

So, this makes it OK then. Well, it is just like I said previously - "that's canada in 2005". Corruption is OK as long as everyone else is doing it. This is a pretty slippery slope. I suppose the solution is to re-elect those who were in this game, thus vindicating them, so they won't even bother to try to cover it up any longer.

I stand by what I said earlier - what a pathetic lot we've become.

Every other party is perfect, and even if we don't agree with the platform of the main opposition, we should nevertheless vote for them -- who cares if they equally troubling skeletons in their closet?

[TS1]

we should nevertheless vote for them -- who cares if they equally troubling skeletons in their closet?

U make it sound like I'm a spokesman for the main opposition party . Believe me nothing could be further from the truth. But, when U catch the thieves with their hands in the till anyone else is preferable, unless, of course U R speaking on behalf of the crooks. All I'm saying is that it looks to me like Canadians don't have it in themselves anymore to take the high road.

[ssiguy2]

Here's one for ya........... I keep getting notices from Revenue Canada and until its cleared up I can't do my taxes.
They keep telling me I got a training allowance thru UI...I've never collected UI and the clincher?????? they have on their records that I received it in 2011 !!!!!
They obviously have my address but when I was transferred to one department they had the wrong address. They had me down as still living in Ottawa.........but I haven't lived in Ottawa since 1988.

[LooselogInThePeg]

I just don't understand why people are still considering voting Liberal. You DON'T have to vote for Harper. If Martin were an independant (and assuming he's not part of this scandal after all) I'd vote for him. But the Liberal party has got to go. If we vote them in again we are sanctioning people who steal from us ! Yeah, no party is immune from scandal but as a matter of principle, we can't rightly go and shrug our shoulders and say "Oh well, that's what they're all like" That's a demonstration of no self-respect.

Anyway, Algonquin, Hyleride makes a good point. You probably should see what you can come up with on your own if you go over your taxes yourself. These guys at CCRA can't be infallible either. For that matter, it seems like a pretty good idea to me as well.

[LooselogInThePeg]

Originally Posted by ssiguy2

Here's one for ya........... I keep getting notices from Revenue Canada and until its cleared up I can't do my taxes.
They keep telling me I got a training allowance thru UI...I've never collected UI and the clincher?????? they have on their records that I received it in 2011 !!!!!
They obviously have my address but when I was transferred to one department they had the wrong address. They had me down as still living in Ottawa.........but I haven't lived in Ottawa since 1988.

WOW !!!!
Reminds of that old story of the guy who kept getting a bill for $0. Nothing he could do would clear up the "debt" and they cut off his service (whatever it was, I can't recall right now)

My sympathies bro.

[algonquin]

thanks for the replies everyone....

I don't have time to get into it in depth right now, but in a nutshell, I'm simply going to amend my return, and bump up the 'common-law' date to the beginning of this year. That should clear it up.

What these boneheads don't realize is that, when people are common-law, there often is no date to pinpoint when such a relationship begins.