Most of us think of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as “The Taxman”, but they do more than just conduct audits and collect taxes.
Not too long ago, I called the CRA looking to get information about how to close a corporation. My previous experiences with them have not been the greatest. I know that the CRA receives a high volume of calls, so being placed on hold is understandable. However, based our past history, I expected to be placed on hold for longer than normal. Furthermore, there have been multiple occasions where in order to get the information I needed, I was transferred to several representatives. In some instances, I had to further research even after talking to the representatives because I was given insufficient information.
I’m not one of those people who will criticize a company, or in this case, a government agency without showing a light at the end of the tunnel. I mention my previous experiences because when I recently called the CRA, I was pleasantly surprised to get in touch with a representative who was not only very helpful with answering my inquiries, but also took the time to walk me through the process of closing a corporation.
Things went much smoother than I expected; the representative expedited matters to other departments which made the overall progress faster and, in the end, saved me some quite a bit of money.
Unfortunately, there was a short delay though it was not their fault. One of the reasons that I needed to close the corporation was for its tax returns. The CRA representative have been sending the tax returns to the wrong address. Their record had the wrong address. This minor hiccup was resolved quickly, and the tax returns were eventually sent to the right address.
Although I did get the necessary information and insight on how to go through with closing a corporation, I would recommend getting a lawyer involved to go through all aspects of this process.
1-800-959-5525
Canada Revenue Agency – Business Inquiries
