Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale says the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) needs to take a “white glove” approach to having people repay their CERB benefits.
“This is quite concerning considering most people applied for the CERB benefit in good faith,” MP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Jamie Schmale told Rick Lowes on Moose Mornings. He added he heard stories from people dealing with complications like getting money despite not applying. “This is going to be quite the challenge for the government, especially as we approach tax season,” he said.
CTV reports the CRA added a requirement for anyone applying for CERB two weeks after the application process opened. Applicants had to have made at least $5,000 in 2019, or the 12 months before they applied. This detail was not originally included when people applied for the benefit. The CRA has since said questions about net income were in other pages, but CTV says a search of online archives doesn’t show that wording popping up.
441,000 letters have since been mailed out by the CRA to people who need to repay CERB.
Schmale said he believes the CRA will take a “white glove” approach so that people who followed the rules don’t get penalized. “It was the government’s decision to release that money without much due diligence,” he added.