c27393dc   
   XPost: can.general, can.politics, ott.general   
   From: Canuck57@nospam.com   
      
   You are better off seeing a good tax lawyer right off the top.  And   
   deduct the fees the next year.   
      
   The Ombudsman is a toothless over paid PR jack ass.   
      
      
   On 25/05/2010 9:27 AM, Alan Baggett wrote:   
   > Taxpayer Ombudsman can’t fix everything at CRA :CRA SOTW   
   >   
   > Paul Dube and his staff win some, lose some while taking on thousands   
   > of cases   
   > By Don Cayo, Vancouver SunFebruary 19, 2010   
   >   
   > It has been five years since I wrote my first column in what has   
   > become an long-running, intermittent series on taxpayer complaints   
   > about the Canada Revenue Agency.   
   > It's two years this Sunday since lawyer Paul Dube was appointed by the   
   > federal government as Canada's first taxpayers' ombudsman with a   
   > mandate to do much the same thing, to expose and rectify those   
   > complaints.   
   >   
   > I had some success with my first case: CRA backed down from a ruling   
   > that would have re-interpreted old rules and imposed a six-figure   
   > reassessment on three Vancouver fruit sellers. I've been as lucky with   
   > several cases since.   
   >   
   > Nonetheless, I'm pleased to report that Dube and his staff are batting   
   > quite a lot better than me. They've taken on a few thousand cases,   
   > compared with my few dozen. They've righted a gratifying number of   
   > wrongs, although he doesn't have a precise count.   
   >   
   > Still, I'm left with the uncomfortable feeling the tools Dube has been   
   > given are no surer or sharper than mine. In the end, he and I can both   
   > only scold, me in print and he more privately, mandarin-to-mandarin,   
   > so to speak. Beyond that, all either of us can do is hope CRA will do   
   > the right thing.   
   >   
   > Ultimately, despite what Dube describes as a "formidable" power to   
   > assume guilt and impose crippling penalties, there's no affordable,   
   > effective check on when CRA acts capriciously or decides to dig in. He   
   > and   
   >   
   > I are in the same boat in that we can say CRA really should fix some   
   > mess or other, but we can't say they must.   
   >   
   > And Dube has no power to order a financial break for people who've   
   > been ill-treated.   
   > This last point is important.   
   >   
   > Dube told me when he was in the city this month that communication is   
   > the most common cause of problems he encounters. I sort of agree, only   
   > I call it a failure to communicate, when taxpayers can't reach the   
   > people who are making life-altering decisions about their files, when   
   > CRA won't answer valid questions for months or years, or when answers   
   > change every time a new guy is assigned to the file.   
   >   
   > The recurring theme in the stories I hear is how fast CRA's demands   
   > for money ratchet up while the bureaucracy's collective thumbs are   
   > twiddling.   
   >   
   > If Dube were to look into many of the cases that come across my desk   
   > and find that policies were ignored or misapplied, what good would it   
   > do? Because Dube doesn't have the authority to adjust the amount said   
   > to be owing.   
   >   
   > Nor does he have the power to do anything about policies that are   
   > wrong-headed, although he's sometimes successful in pleading for a   
   > break when an across-the-board policy yields a patently unfair result   
   > as a result of unique circumstances.   
   >   
   > The upshot, as was noted last fall by the headline on my 39th column   
   > on the CRA, is that the main option open to aggrieved taxpayers is to   
   > "pay up and shut up or pay up and beg."   
   >   
   > And, as if this level of uncertainty isn't bad enough, it gets worse.   
   > A survey commissioned by Dube found that 42 per cent of Canadians fear   
   > repercussions if they complain about CRA.   
   >   
   > So I'm pleased that he got the job and that he's able to look into   
   > several hundred cases a month, and resolve many of them.   
   >   
   > And I wish him well in his quest to become better-known to Canadians   
   > and increase this volume to whatever it needs to be.   
   >   
   > Dube's phone number is 1-866-586-3839. His office accepts only   
   > complaints about CRA service, although, he says, that is interpreted   
   > quite broadly.   
   >   
   > dcayo@vancouversun.com   
   > See Don Cayo's blog on tax iss ues and one on globalization s at   
   > vancouversun.com/blogs   
   > © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun   
   >   
   >   
   > -----------------------------------------------------------   
   > Miss a Tax Tale Miss a lot!   
   > Visit the CRA SOTW Library at http://canada.revenue.agency.angelfire.com   
   > ------------------------------------------------------------   
   > Alan Baggett – Tax Collector’s Bible   
      
      
   --   
   I would rather be a paid up Conservative nut job than a Liberal with no   
   nuts, no job in debt and living off of other people like a leach.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)