CRA Shut Down: Communicate Proactively Before Long Weekend

Did you know that Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will be undergoing a digital migration on the September long weekend, starting Friday August 29 at 8:00 p.m. and ending Tuesday at 6:00 am September 2, with the proviso that this possibly could last til September 3? What could go wrong? Plenty.

On April 16, 2020 the federal government announced that the payroll threshold for businesses qualifying for the Canada Emergency Benefit Account (CEBA) has been reduced from $50,000 to $20,000 and increased at the upper end  from $1 million to $1.5 million. Additional commercial rent relief measures to help SMEs will be introduced soon. Here are the details you need to know:

Most Canadians who applied for the CERB for the first period of March 15-April 11 should have received their payments of $2,000 by now. However, the process has now changed from the initial guidelines released by the government for those who want to continue to access these benefits. Here’s what you need to know:

The eligibility criteria for the CERB has been criticized for its failure to help those that have jobs but are under-employed and under-earning during the pandemic. This was addressed on April 15, when the federal government introduced new eligibility criteria for those earning less than $1,000 per month. It’s been a gap since zero income for at least two consecutive weeks has been a requirement to receive the CERB so far.

Recently unemployed or are earning zero income due to COVID-19 and need to apply for the CERB for the first time? The application process has changed slightly since it first opened. So, beware: how you apply may not be the same as what you heard your friends, family, or colleagues did earlier this month.

On April 6, the government initially opened the CRA application process with two portals: one through the CRA (for those ineligible for standard EI) and one through Service Canada and the standard EI program.  This lead to many Canadians receiving duplicate $2,000 payments last week – one from each program. What now?

Small business owners in Canada are among the most impacted fiscally by the pandemic, according to the Canadian Federation for Small Business (CFIB). In a recent survey, the group reported that almost 80% of small businesses are fully or partially closed, and on average, it’s cost them more than $200,000 already. Will the new announcements from this week help?