MARKHAM, ON, April 18, 2006 - Canadians are increasingly preparing tax returns with commercial software and filing them online, creating a reliance on digital data that could be lost at the most inopportune time - April 30!
According to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), more than 55 percent of the 11 million tax returns received thus far were filed electronically through its EFILE and NETFILE services.
Canadians must take precautions when handling tax data on computers regardless of what software or online method they use: The preparation of tax returns is stressful without having to start again, whether it is your own or the returns you prepare for clients.
Loss of tax data residing on computers can occur for a variety of reasons, including hardware failure, software corruption, virus contamination and human error.
"Individuals or organizations requiring data recovery to meet important deadlines are regular occurrences. Tax time is no different," says Tim Margeson, General Manager, CBL Data Recovery Technologies Inc. "Commercial software packages and the CRA's electronic services make filing tax returns simpler. However, no matter how wonderful the tool, there's always a chance data on computers can be lost without warning."
Regardless of the threat, simple steps can be taken to avoid late penalties through unexpected erasure of tax data:
- Save files frequently
- Find out if your tax software has a backup feature
- Backup critical tax data to external media such as a CD or USB thumb drive
- Keep children away from the computer containing tax data!
- Protect systems with anti-virus software and firewalls
"The first instinct when faced with a system failure and potential data loss is to fiddle with the computer in the hopes it's just a temporary glitch," adds Margeson. "More often than not, this makes the situation worse. If disaster strikes and your tax data goes missing, don't panic. Shut off the computer and contact a data recovery expert."
About CBL Data Recovery Technologies Inc.
Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Markham, Ontario, CBL Data Recovery Technologies Inc. is a leading international provider of data recovery services. CBL employs proprietary techniques to quickly and effectively recover data from a wide array of affected media including hard drives, tapes, and other magnetic, optical and removable media. CBL offers services worldwide through its global network of data recovery laboratories, offices and authorized partners. CBL can be found on the Web at www.cbltech.ca.
Contacts:
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Susan Stuart
CBL Data Recovery Technologies Inc.
905-479-9938
800-551-3917
sstuart@cbltech.com
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Gary Hilson
Sacke & Associates
416-493-5723, ext. 203
garyh@sackepr.com
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