The New CEWS Audit: New Risks for SMEs in Canada

The CRA has at least 2,500 CEWS audits of large Canadian businesses underway. It is anticipated that what they learn from those audits will then be used to audit small and medium-sized businesses across the country over the next decade. There is no audit limitation period, meaning that every business should anticipate having to defend their CEWS claims at some point in time.  The September 21 CE Summit, will cover this topic in depth with one of Canada’s leading tax litigators and a tax lawyer with broad experience in resolving audits, David Robertson and Evelyn Tang from EY Law LLP.

This session will focus on the documentation that the CRA is seeking from taxpayers to support their CEWS claims, audit issues that the CRA has so far identified and is pursuing, and strategies for avoiding a CEWS audit turning into an expanded review and audit of your GST/HST, payroll, and income tax compliance. The federal government paid out more than $100 billion in CEWS, with more than $67 billion going to small and medium-sized employers. It’s not surprising that the CRA will be actively seeking to identify and recover any overpayments.

In this session, learn from David Robertson and Evelyn Tang, two of EY’s CEWS specialists. David is one of Canada’s leading tax litigators and Evelyn is a tax lawyer with broad experience in resolving audits, appeals, and other tax dispute resolution procedures. Learn about:

• The list of documentation and support that the CRA is currently seeking
• Common CEWS mistakes and areas of audit
• Effective CEWS audit strategies
• How to limit the scope of a CEWS audit when corporate revenue declarations, GST/HST, payroll, and individual salaries and benefits may be reviewed
• How to propose to settle or appeal a CEWS reassessment
• How to manage aggressive collections actions
• Important facts about penalties and anti-avoidance rules

Learn more about the September 21 Virtual CE Summit on Audit Defence. Visit the comprehensive online agenda for the full speaker line-up and session details – and register online by August 31 for early-bird tuition savings available to VIP Designates, Leaders and Grou