Business _- Fighting the taxman ore than 300,000 income tax returns are currently working their way through Revenue Canada’s tax centres. As of the end of February, almost !,600 of those that had been assessed resulted in a refund cheque coming back in the mail. By LISA SMEDMAN You can bet those people aren’t complaining. But what about those taxpayers who receive an assessment notice that says their refunds aren’t as large as they expected? Or what about those whose notice says they owe more money than they originally thought? One of the most important forms you'll get back from Revenue Canada is the Notice of Assessment. This is simply a form that says Revenue Canada staff have looked over your income tax return, checked the addition, and made sure you qualify ‘for any deductions you have clained. lf. Revenue Canada disagrees with the informa- tion on your return, the figures on the return are ad- justed accordingly. This is called ‘‘assessing”’ the return. Details of any changes made must be listed on the assess- ment notice. Also listed is the date’ of .assessment — something you should take note of... < - . ‘If you disagree with the changes, you have only 90 days from this ‘date to file a Notice of -Objection with both ‘the nearest Revenue Canada district office (North Shore residents use the downtown office) and with the Deputy Minister of Na- tional Revenue in Ottawa. First, however, Revenue Canada asks that you phone the district office, to see if there is simply a misunderstanding. on your part of why changes were made. About 84 per cent of the. time, a phone call will clear things up. © If you file an objection and your return is not reassessed to your satisfaction, you must, within that same need. 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(Taxpayers are often advised by their accountants to file both an objection and a “protective”? appeal, just in case the 90 days runs out before the taxpayer hears back from Revenue Canada.) In the past, when a Notice of Assessment came back saying that a taxpayer owed more money, that money was required to be paid im- mediately, regardless of whether an appeal had resulted in that person ob- taining a fuir hearing by the Tax Review Board. Perrin Beatty, Minister of National Revenue, gave an example of we SAFECO INSURANCE tnaurance for your car, home, ide and business. DAViS INSURANCE AGENCIES LTD. 610 Westview Centre North Van 980-3655 ANY North Vancouver Chuck Traunweiser 985-9544 Harold Dueck one man who became a ‘‘vic- tim’? of this system at a speech earlier this week in Surrey. In the early 70s, Beatty said, a small business was reassessed and found to be owing $200,000. To collect this amount, Revenue Canada seized the company’s accounts receivable. The company went into receiver- ship, and the owner lost an estimated $1 million. In the end, Beatty said, the Tax Review Board found the owner to be in the right — he didn’t have to pay the addi- Vancouver's Promier tional tax money. The man got the $200,000 back, but he had already lost the business. As of the year, says Beatty, Revenue Canada can no longer seize taxpayers’ bank accounts, paychegues, or a business’ accounts receivable, unless it looks like a person is going to liquidate assets and leave the country. Instead, an independent hearing and review of the assessment must first be heard by the Tax Review Board of the Federal Court of Canada before any seizures can occur. Pa Lighting Showroom NORTH VANCOUVER SHOWROOM 1090 CHURCHILL CRESCENT PHONE: 980-9501 OTHER FULL LINE LIGHTING SHOWROOMS AT: 3971 No. 6 Road Richmond. Ph: 273-1011 31748 S. Fraser Way Abbotsford. Ph: 859-7657 45732 Yale Road West Chilliwack. Ph: 525-5515 400 West Sth Avenues Vancouver. 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