Northerners targeted for tax reassessment 51% more often than rest of Canada: document

Northerners are getting their taxes reassessed 51 per cent more often than other Canadian residents, according to a document tabled in June in the House of Commons.

In 2016, nine per cent of Canadians had their taxes reassessed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). But for northerners, that number was 13.6 per cent.

Yukon had the highest rate of reassessment in the country at 15 per cent, followed by Nunavut and the Northwest Territories with 13 per cent.

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Quebec residents had the lowest rate of getting their taxes checked again, at six per cent.

The document also showed that people who file for the northern residents deduction are reassessed more often than those who don't. Twelve per cent of people who filed the deduction were reassessed in 2016, compared to 8.9 per cent for those who didn't.

I feel like we're being targeted.- Bernadette Tutanuak, resident of Rankin Inlet, Nunavut

On July 26, Cathy McLeod, the Conservative Party's Indigenous affairs critic, and Pat Kelly, the critic for national revenue, issued an open letter to Minister of National Revenue Diane Lebouthillier.

The letter said that the "discrepancy raises concerns that the CRA is disproportionately targeting Northern residents."

They also asked the minister to "eliminate the disparity" between northerners and other Canadians — or to provide Canadians with a reason why there's disproportionate reassessment rates for northerners.

"The minister needs to explain," said McLeod.

"Reassessments are not something that people take lightly … so if Northerners are being targeted, we need to know if there's a reasonable reason."

Concrete plans coming soon: minister's office

Lebouthillier was not available for comment, but her parliamentary secretary, Kamal Khera, said the government's goal is to make it easier for Canadians to access benefits to which they're entitled.

Northerners have busy, busy lives and they have other costs.- Cathy McLeod, Indigenous affairs critic

Khera said the government introduced programs in the 2016 budget to help northerners with their taxes.

Khera added that northerners will see concrete plans and actions laid out in the coming months to deal with the high rate of reassessment.

She said there are two main focuses: increase the clarity of filing for northerners to decrease errors, and see how the CRA can make the process of filing for deductions easier.

"The same rates of reviews existed under the Conservatives, and they did absolutely nothing to improve the situation," added Khera.

"Rather, they made it much worse by cutting services and resources from the CRA to help individuals in the North."

McLeod rejected that statement from the minister's office, saying it is "nonsensical."

"Reassessments mean increased [numbers of] people, doing increased work. It doesn't mean cuts in service … That's a very crazy stint to be quite honest," McLeod said.

She added the Liberals had already been in power for two years when these reassessments were done.

McLeod said she wrote the letter because reassessments can be "extraordinarily challenging."

"Northerners have busy, busy lives and they have other costs," said McLeod. "So when you're spending time dealing with the Canada Revenue Agency, it's taking away from your ability to focus in on the business you run, the jobs you're doing."

'They have to trust us,' says Nunavut resident 

Rankin Inlet resident Bernadette Tutanuak said she's learned a lot about reassessments in the last few years.

She's lived in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, her whole life, and has filed taxes for about 30 years without trouble.

But over the last five years, she said she kept getting reassessed and she doesn't know why. This year was the first in five that her taxes haven't been reassessed.

"I didn't do anything different," said Tutanuak, who added it's a lot of work getting reassessed. She said she needs to prove that she still lives in Rankin Inlet.

"What can we do to make them trust us?" said Tutanuak. "Give them a photo? ... Show [them] pictures every year that ... this house is mine and I'm going to be there for a while?"

She said she was shocked that the territories are reassessed more often than the rest of Canada.

"I feel like we're being targeted," said Tutanuak. "They have to fix the system. They have to trust us."

In May, N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod vowed to keep an eye on northern tax reviews. He was not available for comment.

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Have a story to share? Contact Jamie Malbeuf at jamie.malbeuf@cbc.ca