Last updated: September 18 2014

CRA In-Person Visits to Businesses Expand

Approximately 98% of Canadian business are considered to be “small to medium” sized, and CRA is hoping that personal visits with these enterprises can help to cut red tape, errors, and omissions for an overall smoother, penalty-free relationship with the tax man.

Tax Services Specialists Can Provide Huge Value

A highly qualified professional advocate to the business is always a good idea whenever CRA visits and so seeking out a highly qualified Tax and Business Services Specialist can provide huge value.

Be prepared to show your books and spend some time with the LO

Called the Liaison Officer Initiative, education and support will be provided in three ways by the visiting officer, but will not constitute an audit or result in changes to past filings by CRA.  Tax advisors and industry associations can get more information on the initiative through a tax information line (1-800-959-5525), but even more important, taxpayers will want to shore up on how to handle the correspondence and visits from CRA to make sure they know their rights and responsibilities.

The three key mandates for the Liaison officers will be:

  • Small business support visits:  Tax questions raised by the taxpayer will be answered and general information about tax obligations and common errors related to the industry sector the business falls into will be discussed.
  • Books and records review:  Advice will be provided by CRA on the accuracy and completeness of records kept by the business.
  • Compliance Support Arrangements (CSA): One of two types of acknowledgements may have to be signed by the business owner to confirm he or she has understood their tax responsibilities. The first is a general CSA, which highlights key responsibilities of both parties, unintentional or recurring tax errors common to the business sector, and industry benchmarks that can be used to compare performance. The tailored CSA differs in that it also asks the taxpayer to correct errors noted prior to filing their next tax returns.

Compliant and common businesses will be chosen

According to CRA, this approach has been successful in other countries including the US, UK, and Australia. Industry sectors chosen for intervention will meet the following criteria:

  • The sector is not the focus of significant audit treatments or special projects;
  • The sector has a population base that is sufficiently large to conduct statistically valid research that accurately measures the impact of the LOI interventions;
  • The sector has historically experienced low to moderate rates of change to tax returns as a result of audit activity.

Correct errors and omissions to avoid penalties

While the meetings are voluntary, CRA is not specific on the consequences of refusal. Voluntary disclosures may be made if errors or omissions are identified in order to avoid penalties.  This is where working with a Tax  Services Specialist may be of particular advantage.  What’s required is a thorough review of both the tax returns and the backup documentation, possibility over a period of time and doing this during the offseason makes more sense for busy tax professionals.

Tax and Business Services Specialists can help

From an education point of view, now is a good time to enhance credentials with continuing professional development if you are in the tax accounting business.  Tax practitioners may wish to shore up the knowledge of their team with corporate and advanced bookkeeping courses.  Bookkeepers will want to enhance their credentials by certifying in tax preparation courses – both on the personal and corporate side of the compliance scale.

Knowledge Bureau is a national post-secondary educational institute which specializes in provide financial education leading to certification, diplomas and prestigious designation in the tax and financial services. The graduate of the DFA – Tax Services Specialist program is highly qualified to help unincorporated business owners and individuals.  The graduate of the MFA-Business Services Specialist can assist with corporations.  Knowledge Bureau is also provide to offer the DFA-Bookkeeping Services Specialist program to train in-company bookkeeping staff to increase tax efficiency and compliance.

Knowledge Bureau’s online courses make learning by busy adults convenient, but its commitment to providing personalize services is unsurpassed in advancing the success of its graduates.




Want to know more?

Contact Knowledge Bureau, for a free educational consultation in becoming or finding a tax or business services specialist. Simply call us at 1-866-953-4769, email registrar@knowledgebureau.com or visit Knowledge Bureau's website to register online for convenient online courses you can do in the comfort of your home.  You can even take a free trial of several of the courses, just to get your feet wet.

This fall, make a great decision! Earn certification or designation from this prestigious national post-secondary school, around your important family time.