Business

Don’t delay if you disagree with
Revenue Canada about your 1990
tax Tetum.

The “fairness” tax package,
giving you more time and making
it easier to appeal a Revenue
Canada decision, is still only in
the proposal stage. Until it
becomes law, the existing rules
and deadlines continue to apply.

If you received a smaller refund
than you expected or were asked to
send in more money, don’t despair.
Find out why Revenue Canada
says your tax bill is higher than
you calculated. If you disagree, a
phone call, letter, personal chat or
possibly even a formal objection
could solved the problem —
ideally in your favor.

If your review shows you made a
math or other mistake and so owe
more tax, send in the money as
soon as possible. Otherwise, you'll
be charged (an annual rate of) 12
per cent, compounded daily, on the
tax you owe.

If you can’t figure out why
Revenue Canada wants more
money, phone your local district
office. Move quickly on this so
you don’t miss the 90-day dead-
line for filing an official notice of
objection if that becomes neces-
sary (see below).

Just before you start the process,
you might like to read the Declara-
tion of Taxpayer Rights on the
inside back page of your tax guide.

This promises taxpayers “fair
treatment in dealings” with Reve-
nue Canada and also explains

briefly your rights if you disagree
with the assessment or reassess-
ment of your tax return.

Instead of phoning, you could
write a letter or even drop in to the
tax office to go over any discrepan-
cies between your approach and
Revenue Canada’s.

Perhaps you made a mistake in
declaring income, or claiming a
deduction or credit. Perhaps Reve-
nue Canada made a mistake.

If Revenue Canada did make a
mistake, try to get something in
writing acknowledging this fact
and what will be done. At the very
least, get the name of the person
with whom you were dealing, and
make a note of what he/she said.

Correcting mistakes can some-
times take quite a while. It helps to
have a contact in case of delays or
subsequent problems.

If you cannot resolve the prob-
lem informally, don’t delay. You
have only 90 days from the date on
your assessment or reassessment
notice — not from the date you
received the notice — to file a

‘Don’? miss the 90-day deadline for
filing an official notice of objection
if that becomes necessary’

formal notice of objection.

Ask the district office for Form
T400A. Complete it, outlining the
reasons for your objection and
providing all relevant details. Then
send it by registered mail to the
Deputy Minister, Revenue Canada
Taxation, 875 Heron Road, Ottawa,
Ontario K1A OL8.

Always keep the 90-day dead-
line in mind. If you go beyond 90
days, you will probably be out of
luck and Revenue Canada’s
(re)assessment of your tax return
will stand.

Don’t be put off by all this. An
appeals officer in the local district
office will then review your case.
“About 85 per cent of objections
are resolved to the satisfaction of
both taxpayers and the depart-
ment,” says Revenue Canada.

If you are still not satisfied, you
can appeal to the Tax Court of
Canada. Again, be sure you do this
within 90 days of the mailing date
on the department’s decision, its
response to your objection. You
can also appeal to the tax court if

you have not received a decision -

within 90 days of your objection.

The tax court offers both a
formal and informal appeal proce-
dure. You can choose which is
more appropriate.

Beyond the tax court, you have
further recourse to first the Federal
Court of Appeal and the Supreme
Court of Canada.

If you Owe money, you have a
choice: you can pay what you owe
or you can wait until the matter is
resolved.

If you pay and then win, Reve-
nue Canada returns your money
plus interest (compounded daily)
at the rates (they are adjusted every
three months) in effect during the
objection and appeal process. If
you pay and lose, then your

Help reduce crime by assisting Peninsula youth
by A. Gardner

In a recent issue of The Review
there appeared a letter requesting
telephone feedback to the Penin-
sula Association for Substance
Abuse Prevention on the subject of
youthful vandalism and partying
in this area (Let’s deal with party-
ing problem, June 12).

_ [I am not a member of that
association but in speaking with a
person who is, I was alarmed at the
degree of apathy reported: of the
total three calls received — yes,
folks, three! — not one felt there
was a problem and all felt that the
association was trying to create a
mountain out of a molehill.

The basic approach was that
“teens will be teens” and we just
have to humor them until they
grow out of it.

As the parent of two young teens
who spends a great deal of time in
the schools and as a six-year
resident of this Peninsula who
regularly read this newspaper, I
need go no further to know that
there is a very Serious problem and
it iS growing at an ever increasing
rate.

Talk to business people and
institutions in Brentwood, Sidney
or Saanichton about the break-ins
and vandalism, talk to the police
and school authorities who service
this area, talk to car owners who
have experienced vandalism and
theft of items from their vehicles,
talk to residents who have been
subjected to robberies and destruc-
tion of their property.

If you have remained untouched
by such events, you are definitely

in a lucky minority. Unfortunately,
much — if not most — of this
criminal activity is being commit-
ted by young people and a great
deal of it is related to abuse of
alcohol and drugs. The rest might
well be attributed to boredom.
Now most people on this Penin-
sula don’t have children, let alone
teenagers, so it becomes easy to
say “This is not my problem, let
someone else deal with it.”

However, logic and self-interest
dictate otherwise when it is you
who is affected by the end results
of these activities.

A society is not looking to its
own future when it does not
involve itself with its youth or
support in every possible way the
families who are struggling to
raise the next generation of taxpay-
ers and wage eamers.

This means not leaving all the
responsibility to today’s over-
worked and highly stressed parents
but springing generous community
tax dollars and private contribu-
tions to establish creative pro-
grams and spaces for young peo-
ple of all ages.

It also means volunteering time
and energy to act as a guide and

sponsor to your neighbor’s chil-
dren as well as the community at
large. As it is now, it is almost
always the parents who have to
volunteer what little free time and
Stamina they have to see that
programs are in place at all.

We must work a great deal

harder to re-establish a community
relationship with our youth. While
we should be far LESS tolerant of
the anti-social behavior we are
seeing on this Peninsula, we must
also be ready to present the posi-
live rewards in a Stronger manner
than has been obvious to date.

To quote American journalist,
John Underwood, “Civilizations
do not give out, they give in. Ina
society where anything goes, ever-
ything eventually will.” If we
choose to ignore the symptoms of
trouble, more will surely follow.

For starters, get on the phone to
the Peninsula Association for Sub-
stance Abuse Prevention (655-
4681) and give the committee your
thoughts on what’s happening and
what should happen.

Oh yes, and maybe even thank
them for the time they have taken
from their own busy schedules to
care about the children of this
Peninsula.

656-4443

Wilts Ox.
“The MEN’S Shop”

: Just North of the
‘Landmark Building on 2nd $

TheReview Wednesday, August 7, 1991 — A18

Don’t miss deadline for tax return objections

account is settled.

If you withhold payment and
you win, again your account is
settled. But if you withhold pay-
ment and you lose, then Revenue
Canada will charge you the going
rates of interest (compounded
daily) on what you owe.

Any interest you collect must be |}

declared; any interest you pay may
not be deducted.

You should run the figures to see
which approach makes more
sense.

Mike Grenby is a Vancouver-
based columnist and independent
financial adviser who works with
individuals; he will answer your
questions as space allows in his
column — write to him clo The
Review, 9726-First St., Sidney,
B.C. V8L 3C5.

Are you
managing your
money or

just managing
to get by?

Call me today to find out
how Investors can help
you start building your
financial future.

DIANE DOBBIN, B. Ed. e
656-1004 3
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