Pre-Assessment Review — Montreal CPA Firm Near You: Fast Verification Before Assessment

A Pre-Assessment Review is one of the most strategic and underused financial defense tools available to individuals and businesses before the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or Revenue Québec issues a Notice of Assessment. This process, led by a professional CPA, acts as your first audit line of defense—ensuring your tax return, receipts, and claims are perfectly documented and compliant before they ever reach government systems.

A Pre-Assessment Review from your Montreal CPA firm near you eliminates costly errors, accelerates refunds, strengthens your financial credibility, and shields your records against future audits. For both individuals and corporations, this proactive review transforms your tax filing into a long-term compliance and credibility strategy.

Legal Foundation

Law: Income Tax Act s.152(1) — empowers the Minister to assess “on the basis of information available.” Jurisprudence: Canderel Ltd. v. Canada (1998 SCC) — income must clearly reflect profit and commercial reality.

Why You Need a Pre-Assessment Review

CRA and Revenue Québec’s systems now use advanced AI analytics to automatically compare your return against income slips, payroll data, and past filings. Even a $10 mismatch can delay your refund or trigger a full audit. A professional Pre-Assessment Review — Montreal CPA Firm Near You anticipates those mismatches and resolves them before submission.

By conducting this review, you also show proactive compliance and integrity—key defenses that reduce penalties and protect directors personally. Under Quebec’s Tax Administration Act, business owners are legally responsible for collecting and remitting trust taxes like GST, QST, and payroll deductions. Documentation gaps can expose you to serious liability.

Learning insight: Every undocumented deduction becomes tomorrow’s penalty. Every verified record becomes tomorrow’s protection. The cost of a pre-assessment review is minimal compared to the time, stress, and financial loss of a CRA or ARQ audit.

What Mackisen CPA’s Pre-Assessment Review Covers

• Identity confirmation: Matching all tax identifiers (SIN, NEQ, addresses, and banking details) with CRA and ARQ databases.

• Income reconciliation: Aligning T4s, T5s, T5018s, RL-slips, rental income, and investment statements with declared income.

• Deduction testing: Reviewing home-office, automobile, medical, tuition, and professional expenses for compliance.

• GST/QST/HST validation: Matching FPZ-500-V filings to ledgers and verifying Input Tax Credits (ITC) and Refundable Tax Credits (ITR).

• Payroll verification: Ensuring T4 and RL-1 slip totals reconcile with government remittances.

• Ratio analysis: Comparing year-over-year results with CRA/ARQ industry averages to identify audit triggers.

Learning insight: CRA and ARQ employ over 200 statistical ratios to detect anomalies. Mackisen CPA replicates those same algorithms to ensure your file clears automated reviews flawlessly.

Advantages of a Pre-Assessment Review — Montreal CPA Firm Near You

• Faster refunds through accurate and verified filing.

• Reduced audit risk—errors corrected before submission.

• Full deduction capture, ensuring no missed credits.

• Legal protection against future reassessments.

• Improved financial reputation with banks, lenders, and investors.

Learning insight: Tax accuracy isn’t just compliance—it’s currency. A CPA-reviewed return signals reliability to creditors, insurers, and government agencies.

How Mackisen CPA Conducts the Review

1. Secure document upload via encrypted client portal.

2. Automated data comparison between your returns and CRA/ARQ databases.

3. CPA-led variance analysis applying the Canderel principle—that income must reflect economic reality.

4. Tax optimization by adding missed deductions and removing weak claims.

5. Creation of a digital audit-proof binder containing six years of supporting evidence.

Learning insight: This binder becomes your permanent audit shield—protecting you for years against reassessments and ensuring all data is immediately verifiable.

Common Red Flags Solved by Mackisen CPA

• Mismatched income slips or missing RL forms.

• Invalid GST/QST ITC claims or missing invoices.

• Home-office or vehicle claims without usage logs.

• Large year-over-year fluctuations in key accounts.

• Foreign-asset non-Disclosure (T1135, T1141, T1142).

Each of these errors triggers costly delays or audits if left unchecked. Mackisen CPA’s verification process eliminates these issues before they reach CRA or ARQ systems.

The Legal and Educational Value

Under s.152(1) of the Income Tax Act, CRA may assess based on assumptions when evidence is missing. A well-prepared Pre-Assessment Review provides that evidence up front, ensuring transparency and compliance.

Canderel (1998 SCC) confirmed that income must be determined using business principles reflecting true profitability. Mackisen CPA’s review aligns your documentation with that legal benchmark, ensuring your returns withstand any audit scrutiny.

Learning insight: Transparency prevents reassessment. When your data is traceable and consistent, you neutralize risk before it starts.

Why a CPA Review Outperforms Tax Software

Tax software checks numbers—CPAs check law, compliance, and strategy. Automated systems cannot evaluate if an expense meets deductibility tests under ITA s.18 or QST s.97, or if your documentation satisfies CRA’s proof standards. A CPA provides human insight, accountability, and legal representation when needed.

Learning insight: Software can submit your return; only a CPA can defend it.

Real-World Success Stories

• A manufacturing company reclaimed $14,000 in withheld GST/QST refunds after Mackisen corrected mismatched invoices.

• A contractor avoided a $3,000 penalty after a duplicated T4A was identified and removed before filing.

• A consultant received a CRA refund in just nine days (instead of 60) after our pre-assessment corrected a foreign-income entry.

Extended Learning and SEO Enrichment

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Learning insight: Mackisen CPA’s pre-assessment model is an education-driven service—teaching clients how to interpret CRA and ARQ behavior before issues arise. It combines compliance, risk management, and strategic foresight into one seamless process.

Why Mackisen CPA Montreal

With over 35 years of combined CPA experience in audit, assurance, and taxation, Mackisen CPA Montreal is located within minutes of both CRA and Revenue Québec offices—ensuring faster communication and response times. Our bilingual professionals serve individuals, entrepreneurs, and corporations across Quebec.

Learning insight: Compliance done correctly creates freedom. When your records are verified, your financial energy can focus on growth instead of defense.

Learning conclusion: Filing isn’t the finish line, it’s your compliance story. A Mackisen CPA Pre-Assessment Review transforms your tax return into a legal, financial, and reputational advantage designed for a one-million-person reach through credibility, education, and optimization.

Post-assessment Review — Montreal CPA Firm Near You