Hoyes Michalos and Associates Ontario Personal Bankruptcy Blog

Scott Schaefer

We receive hundreds of e-mails every day from people experiencing financial hardship. Several of these e-mails ask similar questions so we have decided to provide answers live on the radio at 12 noon on Saturday November 14, 2009.

Scott Schaefer, the bankruptcy trustee responsible for our Kitchener office, and Howard Hayes from our Cambridge office, are going to answer your questions during the hour long Ask the Experts show on AM 570 News.   570 is Waterloo Region’s All News station.

We have created an e-mail address to allow youto send in their questions.  Send us your questions, and will will answer them  live on the Ask the Experts radio show.

Howard Hayes

If you have a question that you want answered, or you think other people would like to have answered, please e-mail us your question today.

If you can’t wait until Saturday, or you want to discuss your situation off air, call us at 310-PLAN (no area code required) or e-mail us today.

One type of situation that we see at Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Inc., is when an individual has not filed his/her income tax returns in the past few years as the returns will likely result in a tax debt that the individual could not handle along with his/her other debts.

Tax return debts occur for various reasons, including self-employed income with no tax withholdings, cashing out RRSP’s, working more than one job, receiving pension income, and other situations.

If there is a tax balance owing on an outstanding income tax return and it is filed late, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will automatically charge a 5% late filing penalty and then accrue interest & penalties on the unpaid balance.

We always recommend that you have your outstanding tax returns prepared and filed so that the debt is known and a plan to deal with debt can be arranged. If the tax debt and your other personal debts become unmanageable, there may be a formal option available for you to get a fresh financial start. To discuss your situation in detail, please contact us or call 310-PLAN.