Tax Tips



Penalty and Refund Changes
Subject: Penalties & Refunds
Number: 06-34
Date: 12/15/2006
Refunds could be unexpectedly withheld

The CRA recently sent out a press release highlighting some changes that were mentioned in the recent Budget. They are effective April 1, 2007.

  1. Failure to File Penalty

If a GST/HST return is filed late, there will be a 1% penalty for the unpaid amounts plus 0.25% of the overdue amount for each month that the return is late to a maximum of 12 months.

  1. Refund Hold

Where a taxpayer is expecting a refund from a GST/HST return, the refund will only be sent to the taxpayer if they have filed all their returns for all business accounts.  That is, if there are income returns or other returns outstanding, the refund will not be sent until all tax returns have been filed.

  1. Offset of Refunds

If a refund is expected for a GST/HST return and there are amounts owing under the Income Tax Act or other Tax Acts, the refund or rebate will automatically offset the other amounts.  Therefore, a taxpayer will no longer receive a refund of GST/HST if there are amounts owing for income taxes.

Clients should be made aware of these changes. Otherwise, refunds could be unexpectedly withheld or applied to outstanding balances until tax returns are filed.


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