Back taxes & CRA catch-up · Since 2016

Back taxes, filed. The backlog ends here.

Unfiled T1s, T2s, GST/HST returns, nil returns — plus the bookkeeping to support them. And if CRA is already asking questions, we answer them with you. No lecture about how it happened.

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Since 2016 back taxes and CRA correspondence
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Why not next year

What waiting costs.

Every unfiled year has a price, and it compounds. Here's the math, plainly:

The penalties, on the record

  • Late filing, first time: 5% of the balance owing, plus 1% for each full month late, up to 12 months.
  • Repeat late filing: (after a demand, penalized in any of the three previous years): 10% plus 2% per month, up to 20 months.
  • Interest: compounds daily on everything unpaid, from the original due date.
  • GST/HST late: 1% plus 0.25% per full month late, on top of daily interest.

What silence triggers

  • Notional assessments: if CRA sees income under your SIN or BN and no return, it files one for you — at the highest bracket, ignoring your deductions, RRSPs, and expenses. You get the inflated bill until a real return replaces it.
  • Benefits stop: unfiled returns interrupt credits and benefits that depend on assessed income.
  • Refunds expire: you have 10 years from a tax year to claim a refund. Read this in 2026 and 2016 money is gone on December 31. But if you owe, there is no expiry — CRA collects 20-year-old debt.

The way out

In order. No shortcuts, no panic.

Catch-up work follows a sequence. Skip a step and you file a return the books can't defend.

1. Inventory

We pull your CRA accounts and list exactly what's outstanding — which years, which returns, which balances. Most clients discover the backlog is smaller (or different) than they feared.

2. Reconstruct

No records? Bank and credit card statements rebuild the books year by year. CRA's own slips on file fill the gaps. Catch-up bookkeeping is the foundation everything else stands on.

3. File — before CRA moves

Returns go in for every outstanding year. If CRA hasn't contacted you about the issue, the Voluntary Disclosures Program can mean 100% penalty relief and 75% interest relief (rules overhauled October 2025). The line that matters: disclose before they come to you.

4. Handle the balance

Owing doesn't mean stuck. CRA accepts payment arrangements — and filing stops the penalties from growing while you pay. What the VDP can't erase is the tax itself; the plan covers that honestly.

5. Answer CRA, if they're already asking

Review letter, audit, proposal — we respond as your authorized representative, on their deadlines, through their channels. How we handle it ↓

6. Stay current

The cheapest year of tax you'll ever have is this one, filed on time. We set up the bookkeeping and reminders so the backlog never rebuilds.

What we file

Every kind of behind.

The backlog is rarely one return. It's usually a mix — and each type has its own trap.

Personal tax (T1)

Unfiled personal returns — employment, self-employment, rental, trading. Refunds up to 10 years back are still claimable; unreported income is still CRA's to find.

Personal tax →

Corporate tax (T2)

Missed T2s, including dormant corporations. CRA doesn't assume inactivity — it assumes the return was missed, and penalizes the missing filing, not the missing income.

T2 filing →

GST/HST returns

Unfiled GST/HST periods keep their own penalty clock — 1% plus 0.25% per month — and unclaimed ITCs die with the 4-year window. Filed oldest-first, reconciled to the books.

GST/HST filing →

Nil returns

No income doesn't mean no filing. A nil T2 is still a full corporate filing, and skipping it counts the same as not filing at all.

Corporate tax →

Catch-up bookkeeping

Years of bank statements rebuilt into real books — categorized, reconciled, and ready to defend every return we file from them.

Bookkeeping →

CRA audit & review assistance

If CRA is already in touch.

A letter from CRA is not a verdict. But ignoring it is the one move that always makes things worse — they proceed without your records, and their version is never the generous one.

Review or audit? Read the letter first.

  • Review: CRA asks you to back up something specific — a deduction, a credit, a slip. Focused, usually resolved with documents. In CRA's own words, a review is not an audit.
  • Audit: broader examination of books and records across periods — income, expenses, GST/HST, payroll. An auditor, named periods, and requests for ledgers and bank statements mean audit territory.
  • Proposal letter: the auditor's written findings. You have 30 days to agree, disagree, and send support. Miss it and you lose the chance to argue before the change is made.
  • Reassessment: the final word — disagree and you generally have 90 days to file a formal objection.

What we do

  • Act as your authorized representative — CRA hears from us, not from your inbox at midnight.
  • Identify exactly what the letter asks for and build the response around that scope — only what was asked, with copies, never originals.
  • Submit through CRA's secure channels (auditors can't receive files by email).
  • Challenge proposal adjustments with records and argument — auditors make errors, and many adjustments shrink or disappear at this stage.
  • Prepare objections where the reassessment is wrong, and coordinate legal counsel where the file needs it.

No judgment

Falling behind is common. Staying behind is expensive.

The files on our desk right now: the self-employed owner whose shoebox outgrew them, the corporation that went quiet three years ago and never filed again, the landlord who "meant to" every April. Behind on taxes is a situation, not a character trait — and it's fixable from wherever you are.

FAQ

What people ask when they’re behind.

There is no limit on filing — you can file as many past years as are outstanding. The limit is on refunds: you have 10 years from the end of a tax year to claim one. Reading this in 2026, 2016 refunds expire on December 31. If you owe, there is no expiry — CRA can collect decades-old debt.
Coming forward before CRA contacts you about the issue is the single best move. Under the Voluntary Disclosures Program — overhauled October 2025 — an unprompted disclosure can mean 100% penalty relief and 75% interest relief, covering the 10 most recent tax years. Even prompted disclosures can get partial relief. You still owe the tax itself.
First time, with a balance owing: 5% of the balance plus 1% for each full month late, up to 12 months. Repeat late filing after a demand: 10% plus 2% per month, up to 20 months. Interest compounds daily on top, from the original due date.
File anyway — filing stops the penalties from growing, and CRA accepts payment arrangements for the balance. Owing is a cash-flow problem; not filing is a penalty problem. We set up the arrangement and keep it current.
Bank and credit card statements rebuild the books year by year, and CRA’s own records — slips filed under your SIN or business number — fill the gaps. Missing records are the most common reason people delay, and the most solvable one.
Yes. A corporation files a T2 every year until it is formally dissolved — a nil return is still a full filing. CRA doesn’t assume inactivity from silence; it assumes the return was missed, and penalizes the missing filing.
A review checks something specific on your return — a deduction, a credit, a slip — and usually ends with documents. An audit is a broader examination of your books and records across periods. In CRA’s own words, being selected for a review is not being audited.
You have 30 days to agree or disagree and send supporting documents. This is the stage where many adjustments shrink or disappear — auditors make errors. Miss the 30 days and you lose the chance to argue before the reassessment is issued.
Yes — we act as your authorized representative. We identify exactly what the letter asks for, respond on CRA’s deadlines through their secure channels, and challenge proposed adjustments with records and argument.
It depends on the years outstanding and the state of the records. The inventory — pulling your CRA accounts and listing what’s actually missing — comes first and usually takes days, not weeks. That’s what sets the real timeline.
Book a free 20-minute call

Start with the inventory. It's free.

Tell us how many years, what kind of income, and whether CRA has been in touch. You'll leave the call with the backlog mapped.

  • Talk to an accountant, not a sales rep.
  • Reply within one business day on your free consultation request.
  • Fixed fee in writing before any work begins.
  • CRA authorized representative — we file and respond on your behalf.
Prefer email? info@instaccountant.com
Prefer phone? 647-243-2884 · Mon–Fri, 9am–6pm ET

While you decide

Three guides we send catch-up clients.

Written by our team.

Back taxes

How to File Back Taxes in Canada and Claim Up to 10 Years of Refunds

The full cleanup — the 10-year window, notional assessments, and the shoebox-to-filed process.

Read guide →

Nil returns

Do I Need to File a T2 Return for an Inactive Corporation in Canada?

Why dormant corporations still file — and what "CRA assumes the return was missed" costs you.

Read guide →

Fixing filed returns

How to Amend a Tax Return in Canada

Filed but wrong? The correction path — before CRA finds it first.

Read guide →