CRA : NETFILE opens on Monday - February 22, 2021

[tjthemanto]

The Covid government related T4A slip will be like this:

The T4A will have specific boxes for the various benefits which needs to be reported on line 13000 - Other Income in the tax return.

• Box 197 – Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)
• Box 198 – Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)
• Box 199 – Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) for eligible students with disabilities or those with children or other dependents
• Box 200 – Provincial/Territorial COVID-19 financial assistance payments
• Box 202 – Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)
• Box 203 – Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB)
• Box 204 – Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB)

[tjthemanto]

NETFILE:

NETFILE service will re-open on Monday, February 22, 2021.

You can file your tax returns directly through a NETFILE-certified tax software, which is more accurate with fewer chances of errors

You get immediate confirmation that we have received your tax return

You don’t have to send in receipts, unless we ask for them at a later date

You get your refund faster through NETFILE; with direct deposit, you may receive your refund in 2 weeks

Hours of service:

The services are available 21 hours a day. Due to daily maintenance activities, the services are not available for three hours a day from 3 am to 6 am (Eastern time).

[tjthemanto]

I will probably file in first week of March.

Sometimes there are glitches the first week NETFILE opens. So I won't file in February.😁

[tjthemanto]

Opens coming Monday.

[tjthemanto]

The Covid government related T4A slip will be like this:

The T4A will have specific boxes for the various benefits which needs to be reported on line 13000 - Other Income in the tax return.

• Box 197 – Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)
• Box 198 – Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)
• Box 199 – Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) for eligible students with disabilities or those with children or other dependents
• Box 200 – Provincial/Territorial COVID-19 financial assistance payments
• Box 202 – Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)
• Box 203 – Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB)
• Box 204 – Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB)

Lot of people who have never filed taxes before will be filing this year due to CERB, CRB and other Covid related taxable benefits.

15 year olds who had never filed taxes before and had no income have received $ 14,000 in CERB last year!

Not sure how many of them were eligible or qualified for it! But they will get T4 slips this year.

[tjthemanto]

NETFILED my IT Return today. Went through smoothly. No glitches.
Used TURBO TAX free version.

My Timeline for this year - 2020 TAX year -

February 22, 2021 (Monday) - Netfiled

March 4, 2021 (Thursday) - NOA available online and Direct Deposit of tax Refund in the bank.

NOA - Notice Of Assessment

Used TURBO TAX to netfile the return.

[Ciel]

Lot of people who have never filed taxes before will be filing this year due to CERB, CRB and other Covid related taxable benefits.

15 year olds who had never filed taxes before and had no income have received $ 14,000 in CERB last year!

Not sure how many of them were eligible or qualified for it! But they will get T4 slips this year.

If indeed there are 15 yr olds who got CERB money, then their parent(s) will likely not get a cent for dependents in that case on their own personal income tax returns! Might also impact any GST or other tax credit that parents claim as well. But if the 15 yr olds put some money into TFSAs or RESPs, that might be a good thing!

[Ciel]

@tjthemanto Something must have changed to prompt you to Netfile on the first day. Were you able to get into your CRA account this weekend or today?

[walkonby]

Bummer for me. JUST found out that Studio tax ( which I've used for years and was free ) is now charging, so I went with the free Turbo Tax.
Got about 3/4 done and then got a screen come up " Oops! this almost never happens...bla,bla,bla. " Then asking me to try again later. Well at least they claim to have all my data saved, grateful for that.

[tjthemanto]

@tjthemanto Something must have changed to prompt you to Netfile on the first day. Were you able to get into your CRA account this weekend or today?

Yes. I was able to get in today as well as yesterday.

But with all the hacks, errors, CRA randomly locking account - I just figured I might as well finish my taxes on first day itself, since my account is fine.

Didn't want to take chances that my account might be locked too in the future.

Impossible to get through to CRA agent on the phone once your account is locked.
4-5 hrs hold before they just hang up on you and kick you out.

So if your accounts are fine might as well get it done ASAP!

[Ciel]

On Twitter, it seems CRA posted 3 tweets related to prioritizing callers who need their pandemic payments.
And there was something about locked accounts. I have not attempted to enter MyAccount yet.

Did my tax return. Noticed that the Digital Subscription tax credit is non-refundable as is another one for journalism. However, the Canada Learning Credit is a refundable tax credit.

Saw on the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) Tax credit form that an eligible child that is dependant on an adult cannot have a net income of $13229 or more. That number is what the Basic personal amount is for adults before the 15% rate is applied to get your non-refundable tax credit. So when someone on SC posted that youth on CERB made over $14000, the youth may have impacted any tax credits NRTC or otherwise their parents could claim for dependants.

I had to make a second copy of the Climate Action Incentive form and the Ontario Trillium Benefit form. I like my working copy of the income tax return to have the same number of forms as the ones accompanying the return going to the CRA. I then decided to print off two tax returns and sets of forms Mom may need for her return. I will help her do her tax return plus review what adjustments are needed for past years' returns due to something that needs correcting via CRA. The return will be in the mailbox before Canada Post does the first pickup of the day tomorrow!

[tjthemanto]

On Twitter, it seems CRA posted 3 tweets related to prioritizing callers who need their pandemic payments.
And there was something about locked accounts. I have not attempted to enter MyAccount yet.

Did my tax return. Noticed that the Digital Subscription tax credit is non-refundable as is another one for journalism. However, the Canada Learning Credit is a refundable tax credit.

Saw on the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) Tax credit form that an eligible child that is dependant on an adult cannot have a net income of $13229 or more. That number is what the Basic personal amount is for adults before the 15% rate is applied to get your non-refundable tax credit. So when someone on SC posted that youth on CERB made over $14000, the youth may have impacted any tax credits NRTC or otherwise their parents could claim for dependants.

I had to make a second copy of the Climate Action Incentive form and the Ontario Trillium Benefit form. I like my working copy of the income tax return to have the same number of forms as the ones accompanying the return going to the CRA. I then decided to print off two tax returns and sets of forms Mom may need for her return. I will help her do her tax return plus review what adjustments are needed for past years' returns due to something that needs correcting via CRA. The return will be in the mailbox before Canada Post does the first pickup of the day tomorrow!

Isn't electronic one faster and easier? Also cheaper if you use the Free ones. Any reason you still do it the old fashioned way?

Especially since CRA has stopped drop boxes for returns, now you have to mail it in - so additional postage cost and chances of it getting lost in mail!

[tjthemanto]

CRA agents I am told are all working from home. They are all answering calls from their home phones due to the pandemic.

The transition hasn't gone smoothly, hence it has become a gong show, when it comes to calling them. The wait times, volume etc has increased a lot.

In a call center environment, if you don't know something - you can ask a colleague or supervisor immediately. Kind of hard to do when you are Working From Home and answering calls etc.

[Anna Michele]

I netfiled today

Sent from my SM-A705W using Tapatalk

[Purdee]

I used Studio tax for years now. Too bad it's no longer free. I'll try the free Turbo tax. Thanks for the heads up.

Bummer for me. JUST found out that Studio tax ( which I've used for years and was free ) is now charging, so I went with the free Turbo Tax.
Got about 3/4 done and then got a screen come up " Oops! this almost never happens...bla,bla,bla. " Then asking me to try again later. Well at least they claim to have all my data saved, grateful for that.