One of the most common mistakes we see taxpayers make during a
Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) audit is that they do not
record what documents were requested by the auditor, what documents
were provided to the auditor, and when those documents were
provided to the auditor. What is common is that documents are
requested by the CRA auditor and the taxpayer is so nervous and
anxious about the auditor that they run around providing everything
that is asked without making a list. The taxpayer wants the
audit to happen so quickly (so the auditor will leave) that they do
not take time to think about how best to protect themselves.
What could go wrong during an audit?
We have seen cases where the CRA auditor forgets that they did
not ask for something, but says it was never provided.
Accusations are easily made against a taxpayer and are sometimes
used to justify an arbitrary assessment. When you have a
list, you have evidence that the CRA auditor did not ask for
