Hair Stylist/Barber - Reassessment

Hello everyone,

I use TurboTax to file my taxes every year. My partner is a hair stylist/barber.

On his T4 for the 2019 tax year, box 14 was empty and box 83 had a dollar value equal to what his employer paid him.

The government recently audited his taxes and adjusted his income to include the dollar value provided in box 83. He now has an amount owing and they are charging him interest on that amount, in addition to the accumulated interest prior to the reassessment.

When I was preparing our taxes, I entered all of the information that was provided on his T4 including the dollar value in box 83. However, after I received the notification of reassessment, I reviewed his tax documents for that year and discovered that there is in fact a discrepancy totalling the exact dollar amount that is included in box 83 of his T4.

My question is... Why didn't the Turbotax software automatically include the dollar value in box 83 in his total income? Is there a glitch in the Turbotax software or did the company that he works for fill out the T4 incorrectly? Is there a way to negotiate this with the CRA and if his company is preparing the T4 documents incorrectly, what is the process to file a formal complaint? He received a similar T4 for the 2020 tax year (in fact, his workplace submitted 2 different T4s to the CRA and the total amount earned is different on each T4) so I anticipate that his 2020 taxes will be audited as well.

Any tips you could offer would be greatly appreciated!