The tax deadline is just a few weeks away, and some Canadians who may have already filed with the Canada Revenue Agency are still wondering if their information went through.
A technical issue with the agency’s website continues and is frustrating many, with users reporting they can’t see important documents on their profiles like their T4 slips.
A Global News request for an interview with the CRA was declined, but a statement notes, “We are aware that some taxpayers are not yet seeing certain 2024 tax information slips on MyAccount or through the Auto-fill my Return service as early as in previous years.”
“We appreciate that this is of concern to taxpayers,” the statement added.
The CRA associates the problem with an update made to its systems as Canadians began filing their returns.
“This issue is linked to recent changes in how the CRA processes these slips. The CRA is actively working to address any outstanding issues, including consulting with issuers, to ensure tax slips are made available on the portal.”
The agency had said in January it was making a number of changes to its website to simplify various processes including how taxpayers sign in, and it appears at least one of the other upgrades still has some bugs in the system.
Taxpayers have been reporting these issues to their brokers and accountants, as well as venting frustration on social media with the common problem not being able to see their documents registered with the CRA.
“(Accounting) practitioners were not made aware of this issue. They would submit documents with either no indication of the problems, or would receive vague error codes,” says Ryan Minor, director of tax at CPA Canada.
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He adds that he corresponded with software experts who concluded the issue may also be related to the size of the files submitted at once, and that submitting smaller files individually might help to work around the problem for now.
The CRA says that even if there are issues, those filing their returns are still responsible for submitting accurately and on time.
The CRA reminds filers, “Taxpayers are still able to file their information, by manually entering information from the slip(s) they received by the issuer(s) into their chosen tax filing software,” and adds that it expects outstanding slips to be available by mid-April.
“This processing problem is creating an issue for people in the tax business because now you’re having to manually import a lot of things you didn’t have to before,” says Minor.
Although the CRA’s update in January was intended to improve the document verification system, he says, “It’s causing a lot of growing pains, at least this year anyway. With a lot of these vague error messages, taxpayers are just not understanding what’s being asked.”
Getting assistance from the CRA may also be a challenge.
Minor says, “The e-file help desk of the CRA closes, I believe, at 5 p.m. Eastern time so the folks out in the West Coast, where there’s a two- or three-hour time zone difference, lose time to call. I’m told it’s been hard to get a hold of these folks, busy signals, etc. A lot of things compounded are creating difficulties.”
Earlier this year, the CRA said it was cutting 450 of its term employees, but that it was aiming to limit the “impact on taxpayers during filing season.”
Minor’s advice for Canadian taxpayers is to be proactive, and make sure to get paper slips, because the system as it is may not be reliable enough given these problems.
The tax filing deadline is April 30.
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