CRA’s Callback Service for Tax Pros Pilot

Ruth Horst

Are you a tax professional with years of experience? Have you ever felt frustrated after calling the CRA, having spent hours on hold, wasting your client’s or employer’s time, only to speak to CRA agents who aren’t qualified to answer your questions? The Auditor General of Canada was equally displeased in a scathing report last fall on wait times and accuracy levels at the CRA. Now a new CRA callback service may come to the rescue this tax season. Here is my experience with the pilot project so far:

The Backdrop: Tax filing season in Canada begins in late February and runs until mid-June, though in reality most of the activity is concentrated in March and April. Like income tax offices and accounting firms, the CRA hires many seasonal employees to handle this surge in demand. Unfortunately, over the years, many of these new hires have not always been well trained in the intricacies of the Canadian tax system. In fact, job postings often state that prior tax knowledge is not a prerequisite for working at the CRA!

The Reality: The increased volume of phone calls—combined with many frontline agents being unable to answer questions accurately—has resulted in significant frustration, both for individuals seeking clarity and for experienced tax professionals looking for answers to more complex tax questions.

On June 20, 2025, Canada’s Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson released the annual report, publicly highlighting several areas where the CRA was falling short, including untenable wait times and instances of inaccurate advice being provided.

In response, the CRA encouraged individuals to seek answers online or through its chatbot, Charlie. Charlie, while cute and expensive (he cost $18 Million), doesn’t cut it for most detailed queries. In fact, the Auditor General found in its 2025 tests that Charlie gave incorrect or limited information about two-thirds of the time during its earlier iteration.

Although 34%-44% is low, it is apparently somewhat better than the 17%ccuracy rate the Auditor General’s report concluded was found for human agents answering individual tax questions at the time. In an interview quoted in the CBC, she accurately said:

"Canadians are expected to provide their tax returns on time and with accurate information. And I think, in return, they should expect that the Canada Revenue Agency will be available in a timely fashion and provide them with accurate information and I would say this is not the case."

The Pilot Program: On February 27, 2026, the CRA rolled out a new callback service for professional tax practitioners. This is a pilot program for the current filing season.

Previously, the CRA launched the Dedicated Telephone Service (DTS) for income tax service providers. To use the DTS, tax professionals are required to register. Once registered, they can ask technical tax questions and an experienced CRA agent will provide information to help interpret provisions of the Income Tax Act (ITA). However, DTS agents do not have access to taxpayers’ accounts and cannot provide client-specific information.

This new pilot program differs in that agents do have access to taxpayers’ accounts and are able to provide client-specific information.

My Experience. I was very excited to try this service, and I was not disappointed. I had a fairly complicated situation in which a bank issued T5 slips for an estate using the executor’s SIN.

In this case, Mr. X was the executor of his son’s estate. His son, a widower, had passed away several years ago, but because of the ages of the son’s children, the estate has not yet been able to be wound up. On the T3 return, all of the estate’s investment income was properly reported and taxed. The executor filed his T1 return reporting only his own investment income.

In January, the CRA’s matching program flagged the T5 slips that carried Mr. X’s SIN and added them to his T1 return, resulting in a request for additional tax payable. Mr. X contacted the bank and, while they could see the problem, they were unable to determine how to correct their mistake.

I saw this as an opportunity to test the callback service—and I was pleasantly surprised.

I found the form online and filled in the requested information.

No sooner had I submitted the form than my phone rang. I answered, and it was the CRA. Within seconds I was connected with an agent and able to explain the situation.

The agent was polite and knowledgeable. After a few minutes, he realized the matter was beyond his expertise since it involved a T3 return. He transferred me to the Trust department, and within a minute I was connected with another agent who clearly explained the steps I needed to take.

I was genuinely impressed with how smoothly the process went, how quickly both agents understood the problem, and how promptly practical solutions were provided.

Drawback – Finding the Form to Get Started. One drawback I see with the service is that it is difficult to find “the form.” I received the link through an email from EFILE that was sent to registered e-filers, but the link itself does not appear to be easily found. When I clicked on it after hours, a notice appeared stating that the service was not available.

Another potential drawback is timing. While the process was very quick at the beginning of March, I wonder what wait times will be like later in April, when the filing season is at its peak.

The Bottom Line. In conclusion, I was pleasantly surprised that the CRA launched this service, as many tax professionals have been requesting something like this for as long as I can remember. I believe it is a great step in the right direction.

As tax professionals, our responsibility is to help taxpayers file accurate and complete tax returns. However, because the Income Tax Act is so complex, guidance is sometimes necessary. Working collaboratively with the CRA helps ensure greater accuracy and better outcomes for taxpayers.

Here is the URL for “the form”:

https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/iesl/showClickToTalkForm.action