If you’ve opened an envelope from the Canada Revenue Agency asking for receipts behind a claim on your return, here’s the short version first: this is almost certainly a CRA review letter, not an audit, and the CRA says so itself. Returns get selected at random, by the type of credit claimed, or because something didn’t line up with a slip already on file — not because you did anything wrong. Send what the letter asks for, by the date printed on it, and it usually ends there. This is what a CRA processing review letter means and exactly what to do about it.
Table of contents
- Is a CRA review letter an audit?
- Which CRA review is this? The three programs
- What is the letter actually asking for?
- What to do in the first 48 hours: how to respond to a CRA review letter
- How long do you have to reply?
- What happens if you ignore a CRA review letter?
- When is it worth having someone deal with the CRA for you?
- We’ll answer the CRA’s letter for you
- Frequently asked questions
- Answer it, don’t sit with it
Is a CRA review letter an audit?
No — and the CRA is unusually direct about it.
What the CRA says
The Canada Revenue Agency’s own guidance, on its income tax review campaign page, opens with this:
“If you receive a letter from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) telling you that your income tax return is being reviewed, don’t panic. A review is not a tax audit. In most cases, it’s simply a routine check to ensure that the information you provided on your return is correct.”
That’s the CRA’s own wording, worth reading twice if you’re holding one of these letters right now. A CRA review is a routine check that specific figures on your return are supported. An audit is a broader examination of your books and records, usually reserved for businesses or more complex situations. Most people who receive a review letter never see an audit.
Review vs. audit vs. reassessment, at a glance
These three words get used interchangeably online, and that’s where the fear comes from. They’re not the same thing, and knowing which one you’re holding changes how urgent your letter really is.
| Review | Audit | Reassessment | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A routine check of specific lines on your return | A deeper examination of your books, records and filing history | A revised notice of assessment after your return is adjusted |
| How it reaches you | A letter asking for receipts or documents | A letter or call from an assigned auditor, often with a meeting | A notice of reassessment (NOR), by mail or in My Account |
| What’s examined | One claim or a small group of claims (e.g., medical, donations) | Broader records — income, expenses, sometimes multiple years | The specific line(s) that were adjusted |
| Why it happens | Random selection, claim type, or a slip mismatch | Higher-risk indicators, industry patterns, or an unresolved review | Often the outcome of a review or audit that wasn’t answered |
| How it usually ends | You send the documents; the claim is confirmed | A detailed report and, sometimes, a reassessment | You pay, receive a refund adjustment, or file a notice of objection |
A CRA review letter is a request, not a verdict. If your letter mentions a notice of assessment (NOA) — the CRA’s confirmation of how your return was processed — you’re almost certainly dealing with a review, not an audit. A notice of reassessment (NOR) means the CRA has already changed something, usually because an earlier request went unanswered — more on that below.
Letter about your business’s GST/HST, payroll, or input tax credits rather than a personal claim? That’s the audit side of CRA compliance — see our guide to what triggers CRA audits.
Why your return was picked
Selection is often not about suspicion at all. The CRA’s own guidance on review of your tax return by the CRA describes returns being chosen at random, based on the type of deduction or credit claimed, or because something didn’t match a slip already on file (a T4 from an employer, for example). Claiming medical expenses or a childcare deduction doesn’t mean you did anything wrong — it means your return fell into a category the CRA checks routinely.
Which CRA review is this? The three programs
The CRA uses three main review programs: the Pre-assessment Review Program, which runs before the notice of assessment, and the Processing Review Program and Matching Program, which run after it. See the CRA’s own types of reviews page — the letter you received will fall into one of the three.
| Program | When it runs | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-assessment Review Program | Before your notice of assessment is issued | Reviews income, deductions and credits before your return is assessed — often why a refund is taking longer than expected |
| Processing Review Program | After your notice of assessment | The classic “we’ve assessed you, now show us the receipts” letter |
| Matching Program | After your notice of assessment | Compares your return against information slips the CRA already holds and asks you to explain or support a mismatch |
Pre-assessment Review Program
If your letter arrived before your notice of assessment and your refund seems slow, this is likely why — the CRA is checking a claim before finalizing your assessment, rather than after.
Processing Review Program
The most common version, and probably the one you’re holding: your return was already assessed, and the CRA now wants supporting documents for one or more specific claims.
Matching Program
Here, something on your return didn’t line up with a slip the CRA already holds — a T4, a T5, a tuition receipt reported by your school. The letter usually names the exact slip or figure in question.
These letters now arrive year-round
Here’s something that’s changed and matters for how you read the timing of your own letter: post-assessment reviews are no longer a seasonal event. For years, the working assumption was that review letters landed in a window running roughly from August to November. That’s out of date. The CRA’s EFILE news and program updates page states, under the heading “April 10, 2026 – Processing Review Program”: effective April 2026, the CRA conducts post-assessment reviews of individual income tax and benefit returns on a year-round basis, so a review letter can arrive in any month. A lot of pages online still describe an “August to November review season” — that framing no longer reflects how the program actually runs. If your letter arrived in a month that “shouldn’t” have review letters, that’s not unusual; it’s simply how the program works now.
What is the letter actually asking for?
Read it for three things
Before anything else, find three pieces of information on the letter: the specific claim or line under review, the deadline, and the reference number, usually printed in the upper right corner. Everything else follows from those three details.
The claims we most often see reviewed
The CRA doesn’t publish a ranked list of which claims get reviewed most, but in practice, a handful of credits and deductions come up again and again in the letters we help clients answer: medical expenses, charitable donations, child-care expenses, tuition (reported on a T2202), employment expenses (supported by a T2200, signed by an employer), rent or property-tax credits, and moving expenses. None of these are inherently risky to claim — they simply depend on documentation the CRA doesn’t automatically receive.
| Claim under review | What the CRA typically wants to see |
|---|---|
| Medical expenses | Original receipts showing the amount paid, the date, and the patient’s name |
| Charitable donations | Official donation receipts issued by the registered charity |
| Child-care expenses | Receipts from the caregiver or facility, including their name and, where applicable, SIN or business number |
| Tuition (T2202) | The T2202 slip from the educational institution |
| Employment expenses | A signed T2200 (Declaration of Conditions of Employment) plus receipts for the specific expenses claimed |
| Rent / property-tax credits | A lease, rent receipts, or a property tax statement showing the amount paid |
| Moving expenses | Receipts for moving costs and proof the move met the distance/work-related conditions |
What counts as support
The CRA wants the original document behind the amount claimed — a receipt, an official slip, or a signed form, not a bank statement alone (though bank or credit-card records can help fill a gap). Can’t locate a receipt? Tell the CRA rather than staying silent — they can often work with an alternative, such as a reissued receipt or a statement showing the payment.
What to do in the first 48 hours: how to respond to a CRA review letter
A review letter rewards moving early, not moving fast and sloppy. Here’s the sequence that closes these fastest.
Step 1 — Identify the exact claim under review. Pull together only what relates to that specific line, not your entire return’s paperwork.
Step 2 — Assemble a single, labelled package. Match your documents to the CRA’s request list item by item — the single biggest thing that gets a review closed on the first pass.
Step 3 — Submit it through the channel the letter specifies. Most reviews accept documents online through My Account, or by mail or fax to the address on the letter. Use the method the letter names.
Step 4 — Quote the reference number, and keep a copy of everything you send. Include it with your reply, and send everything requested together rather than in pieces.
Step 5 — If you’d rather not deal with it directly, authorize a representative. A CPA can act for you through the CRA’s Represent a Client service, once authorized via My Account or Form AUT-01 — a normal step in the CRA’s own process, not a workaround. Plenty of people at this stage simply have someone answer the letter for them before the deadline.
The CRA’s instructions on responding to a review are consistent with the steps above: reply within the time frame indicated, include the reference number, and send what’s requested to the address given.
Several years under review, or documents you can’t easily lay your hands on? Book a free 30-minute call — we’ll tell you plainly whether it’s a ten-minute job or one worth handing off.
How long do you have to reply?
The deadline is the one printed on your letter
The CRA does not publish one fixed response period for every review. Its instruction is to reply within the time frame indicated on the letter — not a universal number of days. In practice, around 30 days is typical, but treat that as what practitioners commonly see, not a CRA rule; the date on your letter always governs.
You can ask for more time
If the date on your letter isn’t realistic — a re-issued receipt is delayed, or you’re travelling — the CRA’s guidance is to call the number on the letter and ask for an extension. Do this before the deadline passes, with a realistic date for when you can send everything.
Always include the reference number
Every reply should carry the reference number from the letter and cover everything the letter asked for in one submission, rather than trickling documents in over several weeks. A single, complete, correctly labelled reply is what actually closes a review quickly.
What happens if you ignore a CRA review letter?
This is the part worth being honest about, because it’s the actual risk — and it isn’t what most people imagine.
The CRA doesn’t drop it — it decides without you
Ignoring a review letter doesn’t make it disappear, and it doesn’t escalate into an audit either. If you do not reply to a CRA review letter, the CRA completes the review using the information it already has — which can mean a valid claim is denied and the return reassessed. Your side of the story simply isn’t part of the file if it was never sent.
Which usually means the claim is denied and you’re reassessed
For a fully legitimate claim, the practical result of silence is often a notice of reassessment (NOR) — more tax owing, or a smaller refund. Nothing in that outcome required wrongdoing; it’s simply what happens when a request for support goes unanswered.
If that’s already happened to you
If a claim was already reassessed because a review letter went unanswered, the CRA’s guidance is to send the supporting documents directly to the area that completed the review, rather than filing a fresh adjustment request. It’s a small procedural detail that’s the difference between a quick correction and a slower, more formal process.
And if it still isn’t resolved
If sending the documents after the fact doesn’t resolve things, a formal notice of objection is next. For an individual, the deadline is the later of 90 days from the notice of assessment or reassessment, and one year after the filing due date. Penalties or interest attached to the reassessment may be cancelled or waived under the CRA’s taxpayer relief provisions — see our guide to CRA penalty and interest relief. This piece is about the review stage, not objections — get there and it’s worth a call before a deadline passes.
Realize, while pulling your documents together, that something else on a past return was never reported at all — a side income, a foreign account, an old capital gain? The CRA’s Voluntary Disclosures Program exists for correcting that before the CRA finds it first.
When is it worth having someone deal with the CRA for you?
One straightforward claim, you have the receipts, and you can meet the date on the letter?
→ You can very often handle this yourself. Follow the five steps above, submit through My Account or the address on the letter, and keep a copy of what you sent.
Multiple years or multiple claims under review, documents you can’t locate, self-employment or rental income in the mix, you’ve already been reassessed, or you’d simply rather someone else deal with the CRA?
→ Let us answer the letter for you. Book a free 30-minute call and we’ll tell you exactly what’s needed and handle the CRA side of it — in the CRA’s own format, before the deadline.
Review drifted into corporate income, GST/HST or payroll territory rather than a personal credit? That’s a different track — see our corporate tax filing services.
We’ll answer the CRA’s letter for you
A CRA review letter is routine, it’s fixable, and it moves faster with someone who answers these every week. Through the CRA’s own Represent a Client system, our CRA representation service assembles the package the letter actually asked for and submits it before the date printed on it — for clients across Toronto, Markham, Richmond Hill and the rest of Ontario. Book a free 30-minute call and bring the letter; we’ll tell you what it needs in the first ten minutes.
Frequently asked questions
No. The CRA states plainly that a review is not a tax audit — in most cases it’s a routine check that the claims on your return are supported. An audit is a deeper examination of your books and records by an assigned auditor. A review usually ends once you send what was asked for.
Returns are selected for review in several ways: at random, because of the type of deduction or credit claimed, or because something on your return didn’t match a slip the CRA already has on file. Being selected doesn’t mean the CRA thinks you did something wrong.
The deadline is stated on the letter itself — the CRA’s instruction is to reply within the time frame indicated. Around 30 days is typical in practice, but always go by the date on your letter. If you need longer, call the number on the letter and ask for an extension.
The CRA completes the review using only the information it already has. That often means a legitimate claim is denied and you’re reassessed — more tax owing, or a smaller refund. Not replying doesn’t make it go away; it just removes your side of the story.
Yes. The CRA says you can call the phone number on the letter to ask for more time. Do it before the deadline rather than after, and be ready to say roughly when you can send the documents.
Tell them. The CRA’s own guidance is that if you can’t provide the documents requested, let them know and they’ll help find an alternative. Bank or credit-card records, statements from the provider, or a reissued receipt will often do — but don’t just stay silent.
Often, yes. The CRA’s guidance is to send the requested information directly to the area that completed the review, rather than filing a new adjustment request. If it’s gone further than that, a formal notice of objection is the next step — and there are deadlines, so move quickly.
Not any more. Effective April 2026 the CRA conducts post-assessment reviews of individual returns on a year-round basis, so a review letter can arrive in any month. Plenty of pages still describe an “August to November review season” — that framing is out of date.
Answer it, don’t sit with it
Nothing about a CRA review letter needs to feel like an emergency, and nothing about it should be ignored — the two mistakes that cost people money are panicking into paying something they don’t owe, and going quiet and letting the CRA decide without them. Filing with the supporting documentation built in from the start cuts down how often these letters show up at all — see our personal tax filing service. Holding a letter right now? Book a free 30-minute call and bring it with you.
Disclaimer: This article is general information, not personal tax advice. What the CRA needs from you depends on the specific claim under review and the exact wording of your letter, so check yours carefully or have a CPA review it with you before you reply.