CRA Offers 10-Minute Tax Filing by Phone to 2 Million Canadians – Who’s Eligible?

Tax season is here again, but guess what? For some of us, it might be way easier this year. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is inviting two million taxpayers to use SimpleFile by Phone (SFP), a quick and hassle-free way to submit their tax returns in just 10 minutes without any paperwork or calculations.

Who’s Getting Lucky?

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is sending out letters to about 2 million Canadians who can file their taxes by just making a quick phone call. No paperwork, no math, and no headaches! Just a 10-minute chat, and boom taxes done! Last year, around 51,555 people tried this phone option. That’s not tons compared to the 33 million tax returns Canadians filed, but for those folks, tax time was super simple.

How Does It Actually Work?

So here’s the deal. If you get one of these special invite letters from the CRA, you can call them up and they’ll ask you a bunch of quick questions to confirm who you are and what your situation is.

Kelly Williams, who works at the CRA, says: “There are no complex forms to fill out or calculations to do. Users can automatically file their tax return in as little as 10 minutes.”

The cool part is that the CRA already has most of your info. They just need you to confirm some stuff and answer a few questions about things they don’t know yet.

Who Gets To Use This Awesome Service?

Not everyone, unfortunately. The CRA looks at your previous tax return to decide if you qualify. They check:

• How old you are
• How much money you made
• Where your money came from

Basically, if your taxes are super straightforward like you just have regular income from a job, some government benefits, or a bit of interest from savings you might get an invite. If you’ve got rental income, self-employment stuff, or complicated investments, you’re probably out of luck.

What Questions Will They Ask?

Don’t worry, nothing too complicated! They’ll first make sure you’re actually the person who was invited. Then they’ll ask questions about things that might get you tax credits or benefits. For example, if you live in Ontario, they might ask how much rent or property tax you paid so you can get the Ontario Trillium benefit. Pretty straightforward, eh?

More Than Just Phone Filing

The CRA is really trying to get more Canadians to file their taxes. Why? Because when you file, you can get money back through benefits and credits you might not even know about!

Besides the phone option, there’s also:

• A digital quick-filing option for about 100,000 people
• Free tax clinics through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program
• A summer program for first-time filers or people who haven’t filed in years

Williams from the CRA explains that filing taxes doesn’t have to be scary: “We know that individuals have varying needs. Some are intimidated by the process, some may need a little help.”

The Bottom Line

Even though not everyone who gets invited ends up using SimpleFile by Phone, the CRA says about 94% of those who got letters last year did file their taxes one way or another. The main point is this: filing your taxes gets you access to benefits and credits designed to help you out. And if you can do it in 10 minutes without complicated forms even better. So check your mail you might be one of the lucky 2 million Canadians who can phone in their taxes this year. And if you use the simplified services in the summer, you’ll automatically get invited to use the quick services next February too.