The taxman may be trying to contact you, but it’s likely a scam

WITH TAX SEASON ON the horizon, officials from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) are warning the public to be on the alert for scammers. And while phone calls and emails purporting to be from CRA are in fact attempts to defraud you, they also want to make sure they can get their hands on your tax money if the contact is legitimate.

With that in mind, they note scammers have created fear among people who now automatically assume that any communication from someone representing the CRA is not genuine. But the agency now does indeed contact taxpayers by phone, email and mail for legitimate reasons.

If you receive a phone call, the first step is to ensure the caller is a CRA employee, the agency advises: • Ask for, or make a note of, the caller’s name, phone number, and office location and tell them that you want to first verify their identity. • You can then check that the employee calling you about your taxes works for the CRA or that the CRA did contact you by calling 1-800-959-8281 for individuals or 1-800959-5525 for businesses. If the call you received was about a government program such as Student Loans or Employment Insurance, call 1-866-864-5823. To protect yourself from scams, verify your tax status and make sure the CRA has your current address and email: • Confirm your tax status through one of the CRA’s secure portals. • You can also call the CRA’s Individual Tax Account Balance Automated Service at 1-866-4748272. This automated phone service provides information about your tax account balance, as well as your last payment amount and date. To use this service, be ready to give your social insurance number, date of birth and the total income you entered on line 150 of your 2017 or 2016 tax return. • Call 1-866-864-5823 to update your address or contact information for government programs that you owe money to, such as student loans or employment insurance. The agency does sometimes attempt to contact people by point, particularly if they wrote to you previously or any of the following situations apply: • you owe tax or money to a government program. A collections officer may call you to discuss your file and ask you to make a payment. In this case, you may need to provide some information about your household financial situation. you did not file your income tax and benefit return. A CRA officer may call you to ask you for the missing returns. the CRA has questions about the tax and benefit records or documents you sent. A CRA officer may call you for more information. you are a small business and the CRA is offering a Liaison Officer visit. Check www.canada.ca/ taxes-fraud-prevention for more infomation. To report a scam, go to www.antifraudcentre.ca or call 1-888495-8501. If you think you may be the victim of fraud or you unknowingly provided personal or financial information, contact your local police service, financial institution, and credit reporting agencies.