I have a couple of clients who have been assessed unfairly for CERB eligibility. Does anyone know of an avenue of appeal?
I’d assume it’s a usual Notice of Objection. It’s issued by Assessment so I don’t see why not.
90 days to appeal, or must file to TCC for an extension (which likely will not be granted). Lots of appeals. Very, very few successful.
There’s a decent summary here:
I’ve been able to send new documentation via the reference number and have 3 rounds of cerb review with the same client and revierwer until it was eventually accepted. We were told that if the final one had not been successful, the next step was the client going to tax court. That avenue only works if there’s new documentation to send or you can prove the reviewer didn’t read the documentation correctly.
I have been successful in getting almost every client’s redeterminations overturned except in cases where they just weren’t eligible, either before the fact or earning too much after the fact. This includes corporate clients and T1 clients. It all just takes a really long time to do and CRA won’t talk to us without the client on the line or in the office beside us, as none of our RAC extends to CERB and talking to CRA on the phone about it. Only in writing/fax. It’s ridiculous.
I wish you all the luck and patience, as these suck.
They do, indeed, suck. And the bigger problem is that most don’t turn on “law” but on the “fact situation”…and that, as wel all know, depends on the taxpayer being honest and forthright. And while some “believe” they are entitled, some just…aren’t.
It’s a mess. Jamie Golombek (FinPost IIRC) often has columns on these…suited more for the public than practitioners, but interesting nonetheless.
The “judicial review” by the TCC is…onerous, largely because it’s based on judging whether( the agent at) CRA was fair and “reasonable in the circumstances”…not whether the judgment was right or wrong. The best they can do is send it back for “reconsideration”.
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Exactly. In each case, I have to basically teach the client and then teach an agent. It’s a LOT of work just to understand all the ins and outs of the eligibility when they moved the goalposts so many times on the rules at the time.
I’ll take a full GST audit over a CERB review any day.
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Assume your paid well for all your time.
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As noted by @rachelavryl - is it worth it? If a client has a $2,000 CERB repayment demand, and it takes you 20 hours of dealing with CRA/client/lawyers/TCC/etc - the client is not going to be any further ahead after paying YOU. Of course, some clients would rather pay you $1,000 than let CRA collect even 1¢ more than they should…
These CERB reviews are for closer to 40k, not 2k so definitely worth it to the client on every front.
Always. Helps I absolutely love telling the CRA they are wrong and why. It’s it’s own reward.
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