Q: I filed my income tax return and I thought I was going to get several hundred dollars back but my Notice of Assessment only shows my refund and that’s all I got back. What happened to my GST and tax credits?
A: The main CRA office handles just your PST or tax refund and the Notice of Assessment will only mention any refund or balance owing. Early in the month following the month that you filed your tax return, you will receive a letter from the GST and Benefits office that will show the amount of GST and any other tax benefits, such as the Canada Child Benefit or the BC Low Income Climate Action Tax Credit. You will also get any GST and other benefits that people who filed on time have already received. For the current tax year, you will then receive any other benefit and GST payments when everyone else does, until it’s time to file your tax return again. If you file your tax return on time, you will get your refund and Notice of Assessment in May or June, and you will hear from the GST and benefits office by early July.
Q: I set up direct deposit and I got my Notice of Assessment but I haven’t gotten my refund or my GST/ other expected tax benefits cheque. Where is my money?
A: Consider whether you have actually set up direct deposit with the CRA. Many people who receive PWD are set up for direct deposit for their benefits but this does not set you up for direct deposit of monies from the federal government.
If you changed bank accounts since you last filed your taxes, the CRA will not be able to directly deposit your funds until you update your banking information with that office.
If you recently provided banking information to the CRA’s main office but didn’t receive your GST or other benefits, or received these funds by cheque, you may want to contact the GST and Benefits Office directly at: 1-800-387-1193.
Q: I do not have any tax like documents and I don’t know which year I missed to report. What shall I do?
A: If you are missing some of your tax slips and/ or you’re not sure which years you need to file for, you can request copies of you missing tax slips by calling the CRA at: 1 800-959-8281. The agent will ask you some security questions to make sure it’s you. This will include your basic personal information, the address they have on file for you (which may be an address you had a long time ago depending on how many times you’ve moved since you last filed a return, and information off either an old Notice of Assessment or from tax slips from previous years. If you pass the security questions, you can ask the agent which years you need to file for and have them send your missing tax slips to you.
If you don’t want to call the CRA or can’t pass their security questions, you could use the attached form letter to request your missing tax slips. Just fill in your personal information, sign and date the letter and mail it to the CRA’s Winnipeg Office:
Winnipeg Tax Centre
66 Stapon Road, Winnipeg, MB R3C 3M2
Please note that Tax Aid Team members are neither lawyers nor accountants and cannot provide legal or financial advice. Team staff operate under the mandate of Canada Revenue Agency’s Community Volunteer Income Tax Preparation (CVITP) Program.
taxaiddabc.org 