Direct Deposit Nightmare story

[rachelavryl]

Client of 4 years did not get his refund ( trucker.. so thousands $)CRA shows it was DD, his bank confirmed they do not have it.
He has received his tax refunds over the last 4 years in this bank account. the bank account is still open and active.
After the typical insane wait with CRA, call drop, call again/wait again to CRA.. it was determined they deposited it to H&R Block account that he used 5 years ago… CRA agent could not tell him why.. CRA agent told him to go see H&R.
H&R place, gave him a phone # and brochure to call.. about 45 mins hold, they were looking into it. He called back a week later as he had heard nothing… they finally agreed to MAIL him a cheque. They could not explain why refund went to them.

My Client said but Mail Strike is happening.. H&R Rep then said oh.. we will use a courier.

All I could offer my client is my sympathies and cheer him on for his persistence… I wonder if the security update in January that messed up stuff caused this insanity.

He has been advised to go to his bank and get them to SETUP his direct deposit for the future.

Anyone else have any similar or completely ridiculous situations?

[mike]

Sounds eerily similar to a weird issue I had this year…

CRA System Error -- HBP Withdrawal Amount

Here’s a good one – been filing up to 1,000 T1’s per year since 1985 – never come across this one… HBP Withdrawal of $11K in 2019 Every NOA since then had the proper withdrawal and annual repayment amount (2020/2021/2022/2023). We file the 2024 return and the CRA changes the result based on the fact that they show the HBP Withdrawal amount as $22K now – and we therefore didn’t apply enough RRSP as a repayment this year? Spent 95 minutes on the phone with them this morning – agent said that t…

Maybe the CRA performed some sort of a data restore which reset some data back to a version from several years ago?

[Hugo]

I also had one case where a client started receiving cheques this year after years of DD and no change to her bank account. I told her to go to the bank and ask to apply again for DD. I thought it was strange and now I see that there are many more cases like that this year. What an interesting tax season we had…

[obhorst]

My client recently returned to Canada after some years of absense. AFR bings in a carry forward of prior years losses - has for the last three years. It has been denied for the the last two years so I didn’t claim this year. Will i ever get the opportunity to call an agent to discuss this? Will I be fortunate enough to get an agent that can actually help? On one call where I did get through, I got someone who knew less than I did and she refused to hand me off to a more senior agent while she kept leaving the phone to do more reading. Then she came back with information I already knew. I think the concept of service got lost at CRA sometime in the past.

[dominique_dabolczi]

@obhorst
I feel your pain. I have a client who claimed prior year losses in 2024. It was disallowed even though it is clearly posted in the AFR. During the past 3+ weeks, I have been unable to reach a senior queue agent. I am creating a T1Adj to reclaim this amount and sending a letter to CRA correspondence for a clear explanation with cited reference. I am sending another version of this letter plus a Notice of Objection to T12024 Adj Processing Unit.

In the past, when CRA seems to have a processing error it has sometimes taken me up to four touch points in writing until it got bumped up to the right processing unit. In the past these were complex matters which CRA miscalculated or incorrectly assessed or mismatch in CRA records from one system to another.

In no particular order these have included:
a loss carryfwd,
terminal loss on rental unit,
GST period change during notional change and struck return due to period miss match not listed on the RepAClient version but listed on the processing side,
capital loss continuity error,
the old tuition carryfwd when changing provinces,
RRSP continuity error a long time ago when CRA changed systems,
unclaimed donation carryforward (this required a full donation continuity and donation claims over multiple years,
a misplaced paper filed tax return sitting in the bottom of a processors drawer and forgotten, and,
many years ago, alternative minimum tax claim which was correct but disallowed.

It had never been a ProFile or TaxCycle calculation error.

Several times the manager of that processing unit called me for confirmation of the details and expediting the claim.

My guess is that, in my case,
the claim should be allowed,
is an error or mismatch between CRA processing and recording systems,
a CRA processing error, or,
some technicality which disallows this claims and that I am unaware of.

So..I am going back to obtain the original assessments and track the loss carry fwd in a continuity as a proactive measure. For my own peace of mind I need to understand what happened and why. I don’t know what I don’t know. That is what happened many years ago when CRA kept stating that the GST Return was never filed when I filed it four times. It filed return was struck and never record as received, It took me about a year and a half to finally get this resolved and corrected due to long GST Return processing times and response to correspendence.

Ever since then I learned:
to file in more than one spot,
to maintain a log of my contacts,
to maintain a copy of my correspondence,
to get to the bottom of the reason something happens and learn from this experience

[obhorst]

Thanks, @dominique_dabolczi. I will try the T1Adj but the last time I tried to use T1`adj to change what they had adjusted, it wouldn’t work for me because there was no change in my return. I will see what happens. If there is a valid reason for denying the claim it must have to do with the years she spent out of the country.

[dominique_dabolczi]

@obhorst
CLARIFICATION
Oops. Your are right. Automated T1Adj won’t work with a new result. The issue is with the automated process.

Scenario #1
I send to both T1Adj with a cover letter asking for a second look.
I send a copy to T1 Correspondence for a reply explaining the reason an clarification or change. Usually the T1 Correspondence Unit sees the error or question and responds or forward to the correct processing unit.

Scenario #2
to T1 Correspondence and to T1 Notice of Objection.

Scenario #3
I have also tried CRA Rep A Cilent / submit documents with mixed success.

In the case of Fax, I use MyFax.com
https://www.myfax.com/

Oops - Clarification.
I use the T1Adj form with cover letter and supporting documentation by paper mailed with trackable Venture One envelope, and/or, by Fax. Fax is to prove delivery and receipt by CRA. Venture One Envelope is for insurance in case the fax goes astray or is not printed.
I do not trust CRA paper fax but when using a fax server at my sending end I receipt an emailed delivery receipt as proof of completed delivery. When I worked at CRA in 2007, I spent one week on pulling Faxes from the printers; collating them; and then redirecting them. If the printer was out of paper or jammed then the submission was incomplete or unusable. This happened at night, on weekends, or when not manned (haha or womaned). What a shock this was since I worked on FaxServer implementations along with telephone based Interactive Voice Response with voice recognition, billpay, and online inquiry systems and for call center front ends for big banks from 1992 to 1998. I was shocked that CRA used paper based fax machines in the Calgary Tax Service Office which we bundled and sent via Canada Post to the correct?? CRA destination. There CRA dumped the returns into industrial sized metal containers until some dumpster dove to pull out the stapled paper deck. All the while they hoped that the paper bundle did not come apart or the paper bundles jammed in the corners of bottom were not ripped. So…now, I work upfront to figure out the latest info on which processing unit I should send this to and to send via at least two methods or two destinations to ensure action.