Revenue Canada's mistake destroys man's livelihood

[Rerun]

.... plus he loses his home, and they refuse to compensate him for his losses.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...e.html?ref=rss

I was so upset after reading this story I immediately wrote a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister and faxed it to him (I believe faxes get more attention than e-mails)

Here is my letter....

Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2

Fax: 613-941-6900

April 23, 2009


Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I just read the story, on the CBC website http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/04/22/bc-taxmistake.html?ref=rssabout , about Irvin Leroux and his trials and tribulations with Revenue Canada. This is a terrible situation! I cannot believe that the Conservative government has allowed Revenue Canada to treat Mr. Leroux in this manner. It is utterly shameful!!!

Mr. Prime Minister, I am a constituent of your riding and have voted for you since you first entered politics. I know you are an honorable man and I know you will do the right thing by this gentleman.
Mr. Leroux must be compensated for his losses. What Revenue Canada has done to him is not only unfair, it is despicable! Revenue Canada must be held accountable for their mistakes. I truly believe that the saying “There but the grace of God go I” applies. Revenue Canada, with their unfettered power, has the ability to do this to any one of us.

Please correct this situation immediately. This reflects very badly on your government. You have the power to control Revenue Canada and correct the injustice done to Mr. Leroux. Please exercise that power.

If you do not resolve this situation in Mr. Leroux’s favour, it will leave another black mark against your government and it will hinder any future efforts by the Conservative Party of Canada to win the next election. You must show compassion!


Yours truly,

I am very disappointed in Stephen Harper and the Conservative government. They should have fixed this situation a long time ago.

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

[Resolute 14]

It is doubtful the PMO even knew this had happened until the story became news, so I am not sure why you are blaming Harper. Though it does appear at least one minister has erred.

Edit: Guess I was wrong. What an crazy story...

[CaptainCrunch]

The head of the CRA needs to lose his job over this.

Dispicable actions.

[Rathji]

I would go nuts if this ever happened to me.

[Rerun]

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

[Bertuzzied]

Wow. How can anyone reading this not be pissed and angry? That is ridiculous.

[GreenTeaFrapp]

That's what happens when government agencies are more interested in making sure everyone knows french then doing their job.

[Locke]

You people clearly dont deal with the CRA very much. Some of this is careless and some of this is par for the course.

Mistake #1:

Never, ever, under any circumstances, EVAR, give the CRA only and original copies. They have a document loss rate of almost 60%, its actually pretty staggering.

Mistake #2:

CRA always makes sure it gets paid first and then determines whether or not it should have actually gotten paid much, much later. The writ for seizure and sale is standard operating procedure for them.

In similar situations I've advised clients to pay what they 'owe' through any means necessary, usually credit line, in order to avoid situations just such as these.

OR:

The fact that the situation was in Tax court should have meant that there was an official objection on file and therefore no actual owing amount should have been on record.

Mistake the third:

Angry letter. Everyone knows that the CRA has an untouchable monopoly on angry letters. That was stepping on their turf and put them into combat mode. Unwise decision, this is an organization that quite literally has unlimited powers.

If Canada were ever invaded by a foreign enemy I'd give the army the day off and send the CRA out to fight, its win/win, they're hearless, soulless basterds that will kill you just as soon as look at you, and if you're lucky a few might get blown away.

The CRA screwed up, but if I've learned anything in my years dealing with them its this:

They will never, ever admit it much less pay you back.

[BlackArcher101]

Does it say what damages he's seeking? I can't seem to find it.

[Rerun]

I urge everyone on here to write a letter to the PMO. This is an unjustice that could easily happen to anyone of us. Mr. Leroux did nothing wrong yet he has been victimized by Revenue Canada.

Something must be done to control Revenue Canada and its enormous, unfettered powers. Your life, could easily be destroyed too, by pompous, unfeeling, uncontrolled bureacrats.

This is not right.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Locke

/snip

I am out of thanks for the day already. Awesome post.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by Locke

Mistake #1:

Never, ever, under any circumstances, EVAR, give the CRA only and original copies. They have a document loss rate of almost 60%, its actually pretty staggering.

This is the first and most important thing that came to mind for me as well. Why was he handing over his original copies?!

I mean... sure the CRA screwed up and its horrible but you've gotta have some common sense and cover your own ass.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

This is the first and most important thing that came to mind for me as well. Why was he handing over his original copies?!

I mean... sure the CRA screwed up and its horrible but you've gotta have some common sense and cover your own ass.

Furthermore, whenever I handle an audit on behalf of a client and the paperwork is just too much to photocopy, you have 2 options:

Option the first:

GET A GODDAMN DOCUMENT RECEIPT FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!

Seriously, if you have a CRA document receipt they typically CAN NOT ask you for documents that you can conclusively prove are in their hands.

But I will say, even this is not foolproof. They'll still lose it and ask you again, seriously, its insane.

Option 2:

There is no such thing as 'too much to photocopy' as long as secretaries exist. I had mine spend an entire saturday photocopying crap for CRA. I just dont trust them and I'm far too lazy and/or narcissistic to do it myself.

[Rerun]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

This is the first and most important thing that came to mind for me as well. Why was he handing over his original copies?!

I mean... sure the CRA screwed up and its horrible but you've gotta have some common sense and cover your own ass.

Leroux said his tax troubles began in 1996, when an auditor from the tax agency showed up to look at the books. The auditor took Leroux's business receipts and other records, he said, then misplaced those records at the CRA office.

Perhaps the auditor did not give Mr. Leroux time to make copies or perhaps even not allowed him to make copies. I mean frankly, if a federal tax auditor shows up at your place of business its like the devil just came to visit. I am sure the last thing on Mr Leroux's mind was that the devil would loose all his receipts and documentation. This the is Revenue Canada after all. These people are supposed to be extremely meticulous and almost anal when it comes to detail and documentation.

I don't blame Mr. Leroux one iota. I am sure prior to this experience he probably had no personal contact with the taxman and didn't have a clue that he should protect himself from their ineptitude and mismanagement.

Don't blame the victim. Its not his fault.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Perhaps the auditor did not give Mr. Leroux time to make copies or perhaps even not allowed him to make copies.

They tell you if you're going to be audited months in advance. In fact, sometimes they'll tell you that they're thinking of auditing you, before they actually audit you.

This man was a blithering idiot for giving them the original copies.

I mean frankly, if a federal tax auditor shows up at your place of business its like the devil just came to visit.

The devil? More like people that took the short bus to school.

I am sure the last thing on Mr Leroux's mind was that the devil would loose all his receipts and documentation. This the is Revenue Canada after all. These people are supposed to be extremely meticulous and almost anal when it comes to detail and documentation.

These idiots lost my 4th quarter payroll deduction cheque.

I don't blame Mr. Leroux one iota. I am sure prior to this experience he probably had no personal contact with the taxman and didn't have a clue that he should protect himself from their ineptitude and mismanagement.

I have never met an accountant that didn't consider the CRA to be run by anyone other than dunces.

[Ford Prefect]

So, the Canadian Revenue henchmen and their elected bosses are mugging taxpayers. Nothing new to see here.

Seriously, I feel really bad for Leroux. I've had some rather limited and considerably less damaging dealings with the Revs due to a lame-assed accountant, and they are a bunch of heartless, draconian ba$tards. You want to bring terrorists to their knees? Just subject them to an audit by CRA's Ringwraiths.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Don't blame the victim. Its not his fault.

It may not be his fault for all the crap that followed but really... he did something stupid that put himself in a very vulnerable position.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Locke

Option 2:

There is no such thing as 'too much to photocopy' as long as secretaries exist. I had mine spend an entire saturday photocopying crap for CRA. I just dont trust them and I'm far too lazy and/or narcissistic to do it myself.

Totally agree. Even if you have so much receipts that you need a few days to do it, you go and do it! Take it to a photocopy centre, suck it up and pay to get it done if have to. I would never ever turn over documents in which I do not have a back up of. That's just putting yourself in a potential world of hurt should anything happen.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by GreenTeaFrapp

That's what happens when government agencies are more interested in making sure everyone knows french then doing their job.

Quoted for Truth.

It's ridiculous and stupid the emphasis that is placed on bilinguality at the expense of competence.

[bigtmac19]

[quote=Shazam;1813029]They tell you if you're going to be audited months in advance. In fact, sometimes they'll tell you that they're thinking of auditing you, before they actually audit you.

This man was a blithering idiot for giving them the original copies.

The devil? More like people that took the short bus to school.

These idiots lost my 4th quarter payroll deduction cheque.

I have never met an accountant that didn't consider the CRA to be run by anyone other than dunces.[/quote]

Absolutely true, I can't imagine how some of those people keep their jobs, it's insane how stupid things are there.