What is a notice of assessment?

You've done your taxes. But what now? It’s time to wait for your notice of assessment (NOA) to see how much money you owe—or if you are owed money.

A NOA is essentially a statement from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) summarizing your tax year, and indicating the amount of tax you owe.

• Alternatively, your NOA could indicate a tax refund owed to you, in which case there might be a cheque included with the statement.

Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about NOAs.

In the mail

• You should be mailed a copy of your NOA automatically not too long after filing your taxes.

Online

• If you want to access the information from your NOA online, you can.
• You can obtain a copy of your NOA or Notice of Reassessment by using the My Account online service through the CRA website.
• There, you will have the option of viewing or printing detailed information from an assessment or reassessment for the past 12 years (including from the tax year that just ended).

Your NOA is basically a pre-assessment, based on the information you provided when you filed your tax return.

• If the CRA has any questions based on the claims you've made or the info you provided, you will be asked to provide proof.
• If they investigate and find that anything is different than in the original assessment, you will receive a Notice of Reassessment to replace the original assessment that was sent to you.

If you are selected for further investigation about the information you provided when filing your taxes, you will get a letter from the CRA stating whatever it is that they require from you.

• Depending on how they process the documentation you provided for the audit, you may or may not receive a Proposal to Reassess letter.

In terms of whether or not you need to be worried, it depends on if you included accurate and truthful information when you filed your taxes.

• If you tell the truth and provide the right information, there’s nothing to worry about.