This is one thing that people ask us about all the time – whether the CRA reviewing your SRED claim will cause the CRA to call a tax audit on their company.
I can understand why they would be worried about this. A tax audit can take up a lot of your time, is a lot of work, and can be a headache to get through. One would want to avoid a tax audit if one could.
So, it’s a relief to learn that an SR&ED review, in fact, will not trigger a tax audit. Because the SR&ED division of the CRA operates separately from other divisions, what happens in regards to your SR&ED claim stays within the SR&ED division of the CRA, and the results of your SR&ED claim does not determine whether the CRA will call a tax audit on your company.