Automatic tax filing services have been expanded to include thousands more Canadians as part of a national pilot project.
On Tuesday, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced in a news release that over 500,000 eligible Canadians were invited in July to file their 2023 tax returns using the agency’s SimpleFile services, either by phone, online, or by mail.
This national pilot program, included in the 2024 federal budget, aims to assist low-income Canadians who have never filed a tax return or have gaps in their filing history. According to the CRA, tax returns can be completed in as little as 10 minutes using this service.
In March, the CRA expanded its SimpleFile by Phone system, a program in which agents ask simple questions over the phone, providing a refund estimate by the end of the call.
With the new summer invitations that also test digital and paper filing options, the automatic tax filing service has been extended to at least two million Canadians so far this year.
How to File Your Taxes Automatically
Eligible Canadians participating in the national pilot project can file their taxes automatically using three options: phone, digital, and paper.
For those using the phone or digital services, they will be asked a series of simple questions and need to confirm their personal information. Tax filers using the phone service can create a personal identification number (PIN), and any refund they are eligible for will be provided at the end of the call. If no PIN is created, a notice of assessment will be sent either by mail or to the individual’s CRA account after their return is processed.
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Experts and advocates have long called for automatic filing, noting that many vulnerable Canadians miss out on benefits to which they are entitled. Earlier this month, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) reported that implementing the automatic tax filing system could result in Canadians receiving over a billion dollars annually in currently unclaimed benefits due to unfiled tax returns.
A 2020 report by Carleton University professors estimated that between 10 and 12 percent of Canadians do not file their taxes. The CRA’s internal estimates suggest this number is closer to seven percent.
The CRA noted that invitations for the pilot project were already extended to more than 1.5 million Canadians in early 2024 who have “a lower income or a fixed income and are in a simple tax situation that remains unchanged from year to year.
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