CRA Pressure?
CRA Pressure? Audit letter — controlled correspondence first
An audit letter on a corporate matter raises the stakes of every sentence you send. Early days is not for theories, cloud dumps, or “just being helpful” without a log. This page is controlled correspondence: what audit-in-play usually looks like, what not to do early, what to gather, and how this sits beside broader CRA representation.
Pay less tax, get your life back. — via honest options and a situation that matches the facts.
Request a fit consult — short note (issue + deadline). Soft fit check first.
Live audit letter or complicated file? Outline the letter type and deadline. We’ll confirm fit — usually within one business day.
What “audit-in-play” usually looks like
General education for Canadian owner-managers. Not legal, tax, or accounting advice. Your letter’s scope and dates control.
Audit-in-play, for this page, means CRA has opened a review or audit of one or more years or program accounts and is asking for information, explanations, or access to records. The letter may name specific issues, ask for a list of documents, or set a meeting or reply date.
It is related to — but not the same as — a proposal letter that states adjustments before assessment, or a completed assessment that may later need a Notice of Objection. Audits can lead to proposals and assessments. Thin early replies can harden the path you later have to walk.
Working labels help: “Audit — 2022–2023 T2 — related parties” or “Audit — GST — ITC sample.” No label leaves the situation floating. Baseline letter hygiene: CRA letter first steps.
What not to do in early days
- Do not volunteer issues CRA did not ask about. Answer the ask. Expanding the scope in a friendly essay is how quiet files get noisy.
- Do not send an unlabelled document dump. Match each request to a labelled exhibit. Index what you send.
- Do not “fix” source records after the letter arrives. Preserve what exists. Document gaps. Changing the trail mid-audit is a separate problem.
- Do not rely on verbal comfort without written confirmation through the proper channel. Log every call: date, who, what was asked, what was said.
- Do not ignore the reply date because the sample looks small or the year feels closed. Calendar CRA’s printed dates.
- Do not invent characterizations (“it was always a dividend,” “that was personal”) before the authority trail and books support them.
Controlled correspondence means every outbound note could be read six months later next to the working papers. Write for that reader.
If more than one person inside the company talks to CRA, appoint a single internal owner for the reply log. Parallel conversations without a shared folder create contradictions that auditors will notice before you do.
Document list
Build a response folder before you draft prose. The goal is a package that answers the letter — not a museum of every file the company has ever created.
- The audit letter and any schedules — complete. Portal PDF and paper if both exist.
- Filed returns and working papers for every year and program named.
- Ask-vs-document table. Request # | Document | Location | Status (have / partial / missing).
- Primary records CRA is likely to test. Bank statements, invoices, contracts, ledgers, payroll remittance support where in scope, minute-book items where ownership or authority matters.
- Prior CRA correspondence on the same years or issues — including earlier info requests and your replies.
- Response log. Receipt date, reference numbers, deadline, what left the building, confirmation of transmission.
Prefer primary records over reconstructed spreadsheets. If you rebuild a schedule later, note that it came from source data. Missing is fine to admit. Guessing is not.
How this sits beside broader CRA representation
This page is the audit-letter educational post: controlled first steps when correspondence is live. It does not replace the parent service landing at CRA representation — triage, drafting, ongoing file work, objection sequencing when assessments issue, and keeping the written record consistent across touches.
Use this page to orient. Engage the representation lane when the situation needs a structured response path. If a proposal has already arrived, see proposal letter. If an assessment is already on paper and the objection window is open, see Notice of Objection.
Fit filter: live letter or complicated file. Help means process quality — clear facts, coherent exhibits, consistent explanations across touches — not a claim that CRA will close soft, withdraw, or “go away.” Your facts and file control.
Services hub for the wider stack: services. If cash or creditors are louder than the audit letter itself, keep those clocks separate and see cash-pressure first steps beside the CRA path.
Quick answers
Do you deal with CRA for me during an audit?
We prepare and manage response work so you (or your authorized representative setup) can engage cleanly. Who speaks to CRA and under what authorization is confirmed at engagement — we don’t claim authority we don’t have on day one.
I’m already late on the audit reply date. Still worth a note?
Yes — say you’re late in the first message. Late isn’t always hopeless, but the sequence changes and we won’t pretend otherwise.
What do I send before we talk?
Issue type, letter date, deadline, one-paragraph scope summary. Skip full ledgers and sensitive ID dumps until we’re engaged.
Is this legal or tax advice?
No. Education only on this page. Engaged work is correspondence and process support for the situation. When counsel must lead, we say so.
CRA Chasing You?
Request a fit consult — short note (issue + deadline). Soft fit check first.
Outline the audit letter type, the date on it, and your deadline. We’ll confirm fit and next steps — usually within one business day. Live letter / complicated file. Parent lane: CRA representation. Or contact.