Become a Member

Benefits

There are five major benefits to becoming a 2008 Member of The Canadian Tax Audit Protection Plan:

  1. Peace of Mind.
  2. Up To 15 Hours of legal services if your 2008 taxation year is audited or reassessed by the Canada Revenue Agency.
  3. Up to 45 Hours of legal services if your 2008, 2009, or 2010 taxation years are audited or reassessed by the Canada Revenue Agency.
  4. A 20% Reduction off of Sixth Sphere’s Normal Hourly Rates, both for you and your corporation.
  5. The extension of Solicitor-Client Privilege confidentiality to discussions between you and your accountant or financial planner that are for the purpose of obtaining legal advice.

For complete details, please review each section below.

Peace of Mind

As a 2008 Member of the Canadian Tax Audit Protection Plan, you have the peace of mind of knowing that if the Canada Revenue Agency audits or reassesses your 2008 income tax return, you will have access to the advice, assistance, and experience of the lawyers at Sixth Sphere Services Professional Corporation and their staff to advise and assist you and ensure that your rights as a taxpayer are respected and protected.

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Fifteen (15) Hours of Legal Service

After you file your 2008 Income Tax Return with the Canada Revenue Agency, the CRA will review your return, assess the income taxes owing by you, and then send you a Notice of Assessment.  

If within three years of the Date of Mailing of your 2008 Notice of Assessment:

  1. The CRA notifies you that they intend to audit your 2008 Taxation Year, Sixth Sphere will provide you with up to two (2) hours of service by telephone, fax, email, or other electronic means to advise and assist you with respect to the audit (“Your 2008 Audit Hours”)
  2. The CRA sends you a Notice of Reassessment reassessing the income tax payable by you in respect of your 2008 Taxation Year, Sixth Sphere will provide you with up to four (4) hours of service by telephone, email, fax, or other electronic means to review CRA’s reassessment and, if there are reasonable grounds to challenge it, to assist you with the preparation and filing of a Notice of Objection to the Reassessment and to deal with the CRA’s Appeal Division on your behalf (“Your 2008 Objection Hours”)

If the CRA’s Appeal Division does not to vacate or adjust the CRA’s reassessment as requested in your Notice of Objection, Sixth Sphere will provide you with up to nine (9) hours of service to review the CRA’s Appeal Division’s decision, and if reasonable grounds remain to do so, to appeal the CRA’s Appeal Division’s decision to the Tax Court of Canada (“Your 2008 Appeal Hours”).

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Potential of Up To Forty-Five (45) Hours of Legal Service

One of the benefits of continuing to qualify for and maintaining your Membership in The Canadian Tax Audit Protection Plan annually is that unused hours of service associated with your 2008 Membership is transferable to consecutive Membership years to a maximum of three consecutive years.   

For example, you become a 2008 Member of the Plan.  However, when you file your 2009 and 2010 Income Tax Returns, you become a Member of the Plan in respect of those taxation years as well.  If either of your 2009 or 2010 taxation years are audited or reassessed within three years of the Date of Mailing of your 2008 Notice of Assessment, you can elect to use any unused 15 hours of service associated with your 2008 Taxation Year to obtain advice and assistance with respect to the audit or reassessment of your 2009 or 2010 taxation year by the CRA.  Provided the terms and conditions of the 2009 and 2010 Plans remain the same as the 2008 Plan, then it would mean that by 2011, you would have:

  • up to six (6) hours of service by telephone, fax, email, or other electronic means from Sixth Sphere to advise and assist you with an audit of your 2008, 2009, or 2010 Taxation Years
  • up to twelve (12) hours of service by telephone, fax, email, or other electronic means from Sixth Sphere to review any resulting reassessment of your 2008, 2009, or 2010 Taxation Years and, if reasonable grounds exists for doing so, to assist in preparing and filing of a Notice of Objection to the CRA’s reassessment of your 2008, 2009, or 2010 Taxation Years on your behalf
  • up to twenty-seven (27) hours of services from Sixth Sphere to appeal the 2008, 2009 or 2010 reassessment to the Tax Court of Canada if the CRA’s Appeal Division did not vary or vacate the reassessment as requested in your Notice of Objection and there remained a reasonable basis for filing the appeal.

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Are You Personally Registered for GST/HST Purposes?

If you, as an individual, are personally registered for GST/HST purposes, you may elect at the time you become a Member to extend your Membership to your 2008 GST/HST return(s). If you do and should any of your GST/HST reporting periods ending in 2008 be audited or reassessed by the CRA before the expiry of your 2008 Membership in the Plan, you may elect to use:

  • Your 2008 Audit Hours to receive advice and assistance with respect to the audit of your 2007 GST/HST Returns,
  • Your 2008 Objection Hours to receive advice and assistance in reviewing any assessment or reassessment of your 2007 GST/HST returns, including filing a Notice of Objection to the assessment or reassessment if reasonable grounds exist for doing so, and
  • Your 2008 Appeal Hours to review any decision by the CRA Appeals Division in response to such a Notice of Objection, and if reasonable grounds exist for doing so, to appeal that decision to the Tax Court of Canada.

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Twenty Per Cent (20%) Reduction Off Of Any Additional Audit-Related Legal Services

If you require additional legal assistance, advice, or representation in respect of a tax audit or reassessment in respect of your 2008 Taxation Year beyond the Hours of Service under the Plan and you engage Sixth Sphere to provide these services to you, as a 2008 Member of the Plan, you will be entitled to a 20 per cent reduction off of Sixth Sphere’s normal hourly rates.

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Do You Carry On Business Through A Corporation?

Currently, only individuals are entitled to be 2008 Members of the Canadian Tax Audit Protection Plan. However, we recognize that many individuals and small businesses carry on business through a corporation. We also recognize that if the CRA audits your corporation, they will generally audit you. If you are a 2008Member of the Plan and:

  • You carry on business through a corporation,
  • You are an officer or director of that corporation,
  • You own more than 50 per cent of the voting share of that corporation,
  • The CRA audits and/or reassesses your corporation’s fiscal year ending in 2008, and
  • If you engage Sixth Sphere to provide legal advice and assistance to your corporation in respect of the CRA’s audit and any resulting reassessment.

Then as a 2008 Member of the Plan, your corporation will also be entitled to receive a 20 per cent reduction off of Sixth Sphere’s normal hourly rates.

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Solicitor-Client Privilege

Solicitor-Client Privilege is the legal principle that anything you say to a lawyer for the purpose of obtaining legal advice and any legal advice you receive is strictly confidential, and neither you nor your lawyer can be compelled – even by a Court of Law – to disclose what was said.

By comparison, generally speaking, any information that you share with your accountant or financial planner and any advice they provide to you is not privileged, meaning that the Canada Revenue Agency can compel either of you to disclose what you said to one another.

However, conversations between you and your accountant or financial planner may be subject to solicitor-client privilege if the purpose of your discussion is to obtain legal advice from a lawyer.

One of the benefits of being a 2008 Member of The Canadian Tax Audit Protection Plan is that if your 2008 Taxation Year is audited by the Canada Revenue Agency, you will have already retained Sixth Sphere as your legal counsel to assist and advise you with respect to the audit.  To the extent that you communicate with Sixth Sphere for the purpose of obtaining legal advice in respect of the audit, either directly or through your accountant or financial planner, all such communications should be subject to solicitor-client privilege.  In other words, neither you nor your accountant or financial planner should be required to disclose to anyone – not even the CRA or a Court of Law –what you might have said to one another if what was said was for the purpose of obtaining the legal advice from Sixth Sphere.

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