The Canada Revenue Agency should do a better job of letting Canadians suffering hardship as a result of its actions or inaction know about the options available to them, Canada’s taxpayers’ ombudsperson said Thursday.
In his annual report, François Boileau said the CRA should make it easier for taxpayers facing hardship to find information that can help them, such as making it easier to find on the web.
“If the CRA’s action, inaction or delays are causing financial hardship, Canadians should make the CRA aware of their situation so they can get a timely resolution,” Boileau wrote.
“We believe the CRA provides information to Canadians and to CRA employees on what to do if its actions or inactions are causing hardship. However, we believe more can be done by the CRA. Although the CRA provides information on solutions for hardship, it is not readily available on their website or by doing a quick internet search.”
So many taxpayers faced hardship last year that the ombudsperson’s office sent twice the normal number of requests to the CRA to resolve an issue urgently. The majority of the requests were related to COVID-19 benefits.
“Many Canadians who contacted us said they didn’t have any money for food, couldn’t pay rent or were facing eviction,” Boileau wrote. “They told us that the CRA agent they spoke with did not have a resolution for their situation.”
Despite the high volumes, the CRA handled the urgent requests in a timely manner, Boileau said.
More to come
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