Hi Everyone,
For anyone who doesn’t already know, I live in Ontario. It is a province in Canada. Since I have dealt with every level of government, you know, federal, provincial and municipal yesterday, I WASTED a lot of my precious time on the telephone. Why? If anyone wants to get a straight answer from any level of government, GOOD FUCKING LUCK!!! And yes, that was the first time I have sworn in a blog.
So I have A LOT, and I do mean A LOT going on in my life. Most of which I can’t blog or even talk about. What I will tell you though is this. I am ESTATIC when I get a break from all of the unnecessary bullshit! Unfortunately my happiness doesn’t seem to last long. Yesterday was no exception. This is what I mean.
In order for me get to where I want to go in life, I had to verify a piece of information with one arm of the provincial government. I called them yesterday, asked my questions and got my answers. If that sounds simple it was. What wasn’t simple was the fact that I had to make 3, yes, that’s right 3 phone calls the other day to get someone on the line who would give me two VITAL pieces of information that I didn’t even know I was looking for. BUT, BUT, I knew if I kept calling, digging, I’d learn something. I just didn’t think I’d hit the mother lode! One piece of information was what I needed to verify yesterday. That was phone call number one.
Phone call number two required me to call the federal government about my tax refund. Since I e-filed my HST, (Harmonized Sales Tax) and a tax return last week, I had a feeling that I should check up on things earlier this week. This is what happened.
Last week, on Monday August 12, 2013 I called HST, a division of Revenue Canada, to tell them that I have (finally) finished my HST returns and would like to pay what I owe. Because I was e-filing a tax return the next day, they, the federal government, told me not to pay the money I owed HST because they would take that money off of that tax refund. If I paid my HST on Monday and they took that money off of the refund, it would be like my paying twice. Then I would have to wait for HST to reimburse me. Having worked at H&R Block for years as a tax preparer, I know the process. The next day I e-filed a tax return.
On Monday August 19, 2013, I called about the tax refund. Revenue Canada, the federal government, told me everything was in order. When I mentioned that I owed HST monies, they again told me everything was in order but to call that department just to make sure. I did. According to that arm of the federal government, (HST) I have a lien on that refund because of the money I owe HST. Then I was told EXACTLY who to call and EXACTLY what to say to remove my “non-compliance” lien.
When I called that HST division of the federal government, they said that everything was in order and to call Revenue Canada again. I guess the HST department thought they couldn’t be wrong, so blame another division of Revenue Canada. I called them. Again, they said everything was in order. Then I called HST to check with them. After a brief discussion, I suggested that maybe the problem lay in the fact that some things take a few days to get from one department to the next. That was phone call number 5 in one day. I waited a few days until yesterday.
Yesterday, Thursday August 22, 2013, I called HST to see what was going on. They, HST again told me I had a lien on the refund. Okay. I ask the young woman to transfer me to her supervisor. He was out of the office, so I left a message.
After that I called someone in the municipal government. I was transferred immediately but only got the answer I needed after what seemed like 10 questions! Had I of not reworded TWO sentences as many times as I did, I NEVER would have found what I was looking for. Persistence pays off! I then restarted my research.
At about 2:40 pm the supervisor from HST calls me back. I tell him the whole story beginning with August 12th, and he FINALLY tells me EXACTLY what is going on. According to him there is a lien on that refund. He is going to try to do his best to remove it, but it’s his last day in that department! Sympathetic to my situation he gives me the name and number for the new person. I could have probably said more but I had an appointment at an office of the provincial government in less than 10 minutes. We hung up at was 2:57 pm. My appointment was at 3:05 pm.
I thank him and then tell him that the disconnect from one HST department to the next is the lack of knowledge regarding the EXACT meaning of non-compliance. This is what I mean.
If you don’t file your HST within a reasonable amount of time, you are in non-compliance. If you file your HST and don’t pay it within a reasonable amount of time, you are in non-compliance. If you don’t file your HST and don’t pay it within a reasonable amount of time, you are screwed! Because of all the other STUFF in my life, I didn’t have time to file my HST. When I did file it, I was in non-compliance because I was advised by someone in Revenue Canada, not to pay it last week like I wanted to. Had I of paid the monies owed, like I wanted to, everything would be great.
Once at my 3:05 pm appointment, the young woman, unlike most people that I have dealt with in the provincial government lately, was very helpful. This is partly because I didn’t go in there blind. I had information and I was somewhat prepared. I asked her about the questions I verified earlier in the day. Not only did she confirm them she gave me extra information. Again, persistence pays off!
I leave there at 3:52 pm, arrive home at 4:25 pm and notice that there is a message from someone at Revenue Canada. I call them and leave a message even though they said they would be leaving their office at 4 pm. A few minutes later the telephone rings. It was someone else from Revenue Canada who received an email from a division of Revenue Canada. According to her, everything UP TO TODAY is in order. Does that mean tomorrow it couldn’t be? More than likely. It only took Revenue Canada from Monday August 19th, to get back to me, and yesterday was Thursday, August 22nd, so who knows. Whatever.
I FINALLY have Revenue Canada’s attention. Three phone calls, three direct telephone numbers for three supervisors, two supervisors who are in two separate departments by the way, (one for Revenue Canada and one for HST) are willing to resolve this issue, is pretty good. Not a lot of people get that kind of attention in one day ever. Part of me wants to believe that my tax lingo from all of my years of working at H&R Block have paid off. Another part of me wants to believe that it was my persistence. Either way it doesn’t matter.
Now am I going to rely on Revenue Canada and their HST division to do what they are supposed to do, what they said they would do? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! That would be INSANE!!! Since I have maintained my sanity thus far, I would be an idiot to allow myself to rely on them. That would be like counting the chicks before they are hatched!!! It took 3 days for a Revenue Canada supervisor to get back to me. They have clearly demonstrated to me that one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing!
So here is the recap of yesterday. One provincial phone call from me, one visit to a provincial office by me, one municipal phone call from me, one phone call to the federal government by me that I actually got to speak with someone, I left two messages to supervisors of the federal government, three phone calls from the federal government, one of which was a message.
If your head is spinning, how do you think I feel? Oh yeah, and what about all of the research I did? All of the typing I did? All of the preparation I did before hand? All of that and more took place between 10:30 am and 4:45pm yesterday! If you’re ready for a drink just by reading this blog and you are out of alcohol, I’ve had a few for you! Naturally I waited until all of the INSANITY was over. Even I have to think once in a while.
So if you need to call any level of government, I recommend the following. Have a cordless phone available so you can tidy up while you’re on hold. I purposely leave the dishes, sweeping and laundry for those types of phone calls. Take notes beginning with names, ID numbers, time and date of your call. People will take you more seriously. If you believe there’s an answer that you aren’t getting, keep calling until you find what you are looking for. It has worked for me BIG TIME!!!
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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