Last month, I had a couple referred to me by a financial support services company. The company provides financial services to employees of their client, but have realized that their knowledge is in financial services, not taxes, so refer tax issues to me.

The couple had been reassessed for the prior year (that is, 2017) by the CRA for missing income and asked support services if this was normal. Support services took one look at the returns and referred the couple to me. Which was good for the couple.

Not only was the prior year reassessed, but the previous year was also reassessed, AND the current return (2018) was heading into the same problem.

I spent 2.5 hours with the couple, going over the returns in person, explaining what was happening and what I was seeing and what fixes that I could see. (While I could detail the problems here, the end result was that the returns were wrong.)

A few days later, we had a chat by phone, and they will be coming in to sign the corrections later this week. Yes, they owe a large amount, but the fixes that I have put into place finish the problems. Both 2017 and 2018 was fixed, and the final bill would be slightly less than the bill for 2017 as prepared by the CRA. We agreed not to touch the 2016 as the changes didn’t warrant touching.

As I explained to them, if you had owed the amount at the beginning when you filed, you would have been happy. The only reason that you are unhappy is because you found out the problem two years later. And, while everyone likes a refund, what they really want is no problems.

A correct tax return, even if you owe, is better than one that causes grief.