Ottawa · Unfiled & Late Tax Returns
However many years behind you are, there is a way through it.
One year or ten. We have seen both.
Most people who call us about this have been putting it off a long while. Not through carelessness, but because the longer it goes the bigger it feels, until opening the post becomes the hardest thing you do all week.
It is almost always less bad than expected, and it is always better handled than left, because penalties and interest carry on quietly building for as long as nothing is filed.
No judgement and no lecture. Just a straight answer about what sorting it out involves.
Let us take a look
A free 20 minute call. Tell us roughly how far behind you are and we will come back within one business day.
Who this is for
This is the kind of thing we do every week.
If any of these describe you, the call is worth twenty minutes.
If you are one return behind and your paperwork is in order, you probably do not need this call. Send it through the contact form on our main site and we will quote you for the return itself.
How it works
What actually happens
There is a process for this, and it is far more orderly than you are currently imagining.
We work out what is outstanding
Before anything else we establish which years are genuinely missing and what has already been assessed. People are often wrong about how far back it goes, and usually wrong in their favour.
We rebuild the years
Bank statements, invoices, whatever still exists. Missing records are normal and they are not a dead end. Years have been reconstructed from a great deal less than you think you have.
We file, and we handle what comes back
The returns go in, and then the correspondence, the assessments and any arrangement that needs making get handled. You do not do that part on your own.
Coming forward yourself is treated differently from being found.
There are provisions for people who put their own hand up before anyone comes looking. Whether they apply to you depends on your circumstances, and working that out is one of the first things we do on the call.
Alexander Nour, Nour & Daniels Tax
Who you will be dealing with
You deal with me, not a call centre.
I am Alexander Nour. Nour & Daniels Tax is my practice, and when you call about a backlog you are speaking to the person who will actually do the work.
I have handled a lot of these. People arrive apologetic and it is unnecessary. A backlog is a filing problem with interest attached, not a character flaw, and it responds very well to somebody simply starting at the beginning.
Everything runs through a secure portal, so nobody is driving across town with a shoebox. If you would rather talk it through on the phone one evening, that is fine too.
Questions
The things people ask before they pick up the phone
How far back will we have to go?
That depends on your situation and it is one of the first things we establish. It is frequently fewer years than people assume.
I do not have my records any more.
Normal, and not a blocker. Most of what is needed can be pulled or reconstructed from other sources. Bring whatever you still have and we will work out the rest.
Am I in trouble?
Almost nobody who calls us is in the kind of trouble they have spent months imagining. What is true is that the position tends to be better for people who come forward themselves than for people who wait, and that is the honest reason not to leave it another year.
What is this going to cost me?
Personal returns are $175 plus HST per year. Corporate work and bookkeeping are quoted after the call, once we know what is actually involved, and you get the number before any work begins.
How long does it take?
It depends on how many years there are and how complete the records are. You will get a realistic timeline on the call rather than an optimistic one.
Ottawa · Nour & Daniels Tax
Get it off your desk
Twenty minutes, no cost, and an honest picture of what it actually takes to put this behind you.