Fredericton mother unhappy with Canada Revenue Agency
'It makes you feel like a criminal,' Stella Basque says of letter she received from CRA
A Fredericton mother is shocked that she received a letter from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) asking to prove that her nine-year-old son lives with her.
The letter said that unless she provided proof, she would have to pay back about $4,000 for the child tax benefits she had claimed over the years.
“It makes you feel like a criminal, almost right off, like you've done something wrong, when indeed you haven't,” said Stella Basque.
CRA told CBC News it doesn’t comment on individual cases, but that it treats each taxpayer equally and fairly.
Chartered accountant Claude Leger says these types of audits are becoming more common.
“A lot of these things are automated now with CRA, so it's very easy for them to issue a large volume of these sorts of requests,” he said.
Basque has asked her son’s teacher for a letter to prove to CRA that he actually lives with her.