Time’s Up: CRA’s 100 Day Mandate for Improvement

After years of frustration on the part of tax professionals and taxpayers alike, the Finance Minister ordered the Canada Revenue Agency to clean up its act in 100 days. Specifically, the improvement plan was to run from September 2 through December 11. Finance Minister and Minister of National Revenue, Francoise-Phillippe Champagne instructed CRA to fix “unacceptable wait times and service delays.” Time’s up this week and CRA has released an update on progress. What gets measured, gets done. Let’s see what CRA’s metrics show. 

CRA is warning Canadians that if they mistakenly received the Canada Emergency Response Benefit of $2,000 twice, as many reported last week, they will be coming after it.  So make sure you don’t spend both payments: audit risk is high. Canadians can expect that verification activities will take place after the fact, as the first priority for government has been to get money promptly into the hands of Canadians who have been suddenly laid off.

It’s been a difficult time for so many families in Canada.  Some of us have lost loved ones, some of us are not well, most of us are forced apart from our families and friends, and there is no shortage of financial worries. But, with the advent of spring and the opportunity to reflect on resurrection and rebirth through our traditional celebrations, there is always hope for the future. We wish you peace and joy in knowing that soon we will be together again. Please accept our sincerest thanks and best wishes for the privilege of sharing knowledge with you.    - Your Knowledge Bureau Team

The federal government announced a third round of enhancements to its Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program on April 8, as it tries to stave off thousands of bankruptcies across the small business community. MPs will need to be recalled to parliament to enact the legislation, which reduces the 30% revenue test to 15% for March only and introduces an alternative method for calculating the revenue.  Some employer-paid CPP/EI refunds may also be available.  

It’s money that Canadians needed quickly and the government must be commended for their processing over 4 million CERB applications to date, and close to 2 million this week alone. But are Canadians setting themselves up for a significant audit process in the future?  These funds are taxable, and there are additional audit risks that should be a hot topic of discussion for advisors and their clients.

Here’s a social distancing tax tip:  convert your in-person newspaper delivery into a digital subscription.  If you do, you’ll receive a new tax credit on the 2020 tax return. Here are the details:

The federal government pushed out this year’s tax filing deadlines in order to relieve some pressure on taxpayers, professionals, and CRA staff all coping with the effects of the pandemic. Has tax season slowed down as a result? It doesn’t really appear so when you compare the first month of tax filing season to the most recent statistics released by the government.