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Andy Wong
Monday, February 25, 2008
You might rather undergo a root canal than face the prospect of being contacted by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). After all, if the taxman wants you, you are being audited, and it is not going to be fun.
Yet there are times when you want the taxman to answer your questions, like, what's my 2007 RRSP limit, or where is my tax refund? Here are some surefire tips to get hold of a CRA agent.
The CRA do operate an efficient national toll-free phone help system. Call from anywhere in Canada and you will be directed to a tax centre. They are quickest to respond from 8:15 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Friday.
The personal tax line is 1-800-959-8281. Businesses (proprietorship, partnership, corporation or non-profit organization) must call CRA's business line at 1-800-959-5525 for corporate tax, GST or payroll issues. When your call gets through, and you are put in queue, an automated voice reassures you that an agent will respond in two minutes. This is all good news, in theory.
Here is what really happens. You call and you get a busy signal. You are annoyed but realize this is a busy time for the CRA. You wait a few minutes and redial. Yup, it's that busy signal again. And again, and again. Arrggghh!
When your call eventually gets through, don't feel lucky yet. You will be automatically shunted to an automated menu of choices, i.e., Press 1 for RRSP info, call this number for GST benefit enquiries, etc. All you want is to talk to an agent, right? Here's how you cut through the maze, all made easy, thanks to the redial feature and the # button on your phone.
If you reach a busy signal, relax and redial immediately. Be prepared to hit the redial button relentlessly. Waiting a few minutes to call is futile since you are competing with other random calls again. Instead, bombard the call centre by redialing repeatedly and your odds of getting through go sky high. Believe me, this works every time.
Okay, you are in but not quite talking with an agent yet.
Here's how you bypass CRA's time-consuming menu choices. As soon as you are in, press the # button and be prepared to ignore an automated voice that says, "We haven't received a valid selection." Ignore that and press the # button again. The second time around (or the third time, if necessary), your call will be placed in queue to speak with an agent - success! As soon as you are in queue, an agent will get to you in about one to two minutes.
Are you bilingual? If so, you should be smiling. Call 1-800-959-7383 (individual tax questions) or 1-800-959-7775 (business questions). These help lines are never busy.
If you accidentally dial but don't speak French, the bilingual agents are quite accommodating if you apologize and ask for help.
If you are looking for your RRSP contribution room or tax refund, the CRA also has a fully-automated, easy to use, 24/7, service at 1-800-267-6999. You will need to key in your social insurance number, month and year of birth and total income on line 150 of your tax return.
The CRA also offers an excellent online service, called "My Account," for accessing your personal tax information and history. Whether you want to double-check your RRSP limit, change your address, find out how much you owe or print out personal information, it's available with "My Account." Signing up for this service requires some patience, at: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/eservices/tax/individuals/myaccount/menu-e.html.
Andy Wong is a tax consultant at MacKay LLP, Chartered Accountants in Yellowknife. He can be reached at andrew-wong@yel.mackayllp.ca.
