ex-boyfriend will not turn over paperwork

QUESTION: David,
If I did not file a tax return in a prevoius year due to no income, am I still subject
to a fine &/ penalty from CRA. My ex-spouse has all paperwork & I am seeking a restraining
order in that department so I will have a hard time proving myself to CRA.

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david ingram replies:

If you did not have any income there is no fine and no penalty.  If you had no income, you do not need anything in your es's possession, just file a tax return showing no income.

If you had a little income, go back to the bank, credit union, employer or two and ask them for duplicate copies of the infromation they sent to the CRA.

In an extreme case (and actually easier) go to (or write)  your local CRA office and ask them for copies of the information they have on file.  They will mail it to you.

Believe me, you are not alone.  I get a dozen people a month who have not filed for four or seven years and have lost their paperwork from a fire or they threw it out by accident or it got lost ina move or their girl friend / wife / boyfriend husband

1.   put the paperwork in a barrell ahnd burned it

2.   put it in the washing machine and made paper mache with it

3.   refuses to give it to them.

My favourite was when the cat used all that paper in a box to have kittens and sort of messed up the paper work.

Another time in my own office, 25 clients paperwork was absolutely destroyed when the Surrey Sewer system backed up into the office and flooded all the files which were neatly spread out on the floor.

The CRA has heard it all before and is sympathetic to your situation unles it is the third or fourth time.

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