I haven't replied because I fear I can't hold my tongue... I have asked for this money since beginning of Feb saying I NEEDED it! she didn't give two F^%$!!!

What would you do?
I wanted to check with my son who is a lawyer before responding and he's confirmed that this is correct information.

First and foremost - You cannot deny giving her a receipt. The fact she owes you money for 2018 fees is totally separate from the fact she should be given a receipt for what she has handed over in 2017. You cannot use the receipt as a means to manipulate the owed fees.

Second - You have not made mention of having a written contract and so we are assuming there wasn't one. But even if there is, you have enable this on-going issue. While that seems like I'm judging you, I'm not. There's is actually a legal responsibility to cut your loses when someone doesn't follow your policy before it becomes an ongoing issue. The term for that is to "mitigate your loses". The first time they showed up without paying, you should have turned them away at the door. If your agreement was no fees=no care, whether that is written or just verbal, when you don't enforce your own policies, that blurs the lines as to what the understanding between you both is.

So that's the legal situation - you can't deny her a receipt for money spent and you will have a really hard time winning in Small Claims court for the fees she owes.


So you have to decide if you want to call her bluff. Bear in mind, that you don't have to declare the income from fees until it's earned. So her tax receipt for 2017 will include her fees paid until 31st December 2017. That means the fees that she owes you since January, she won't get a tax receipt for yet and you won't be including that income on this tax return anyway!

Do your taxes this weekend because this whole situation of money owed will be in the 2018 tax year and won't affect the tax return pending. You have to declare the income regardless.

In the meantime, you could just send her a text stating that you will be happy to issue a tax receipt once she settles her account and see what happens but know that in doing that, if she doesn't pay, you legally don't have a leg to stand on and in fact should have issued her 2017 tax receipt by the end of Feb. She should already have had this and you are in breach of CRA but not having given it almost a month late.