What The CRA Giveth, The CRA Taketh Away

 

The CRA mo' money mo' money mo' money forever Whuhan *free* cash machine may (doubt it) have come to an end for about half a million Canadian's, as the CRA has suddenly decided to ask - who are you, and did you ever have a job?

The Canada Revenue Agency says it has sent out 441,000 letters warning individuals that they may not be eligible for the Canada Emergency Response Benefits they received.

Described as "education letters" by a CRA spokesperson, the letters were sent to those for whom the agency said it was "unable to confirm ... employment and/or self-employment income of at least $5,000 in 2019, or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application" — one of the key criteria for the CERB program.

In the past several weeks, many Canadians have reported they received such letters and now fear they'll have to repay thousands of dollars in benefits. 

Let's say daddy gov't is correct, and these possibly not-so-honest Canadian's did indeed screw the gov't out of cash, and let's say each of these not-so-honest Johnny and Jennie (or Tyrelle and Dingmay Singh, if you please) Canuck's each received $10,000 over the coarse of their crime spree. A little back-of-the-napkin math tells The Mayor that the gov't is now owed about 4 billion dollars. And as we all know and have been told by our *betters*, "a billion here, a billion there, and soon we're talking about real money."

And if you thought the CRA was done sending out *education letters* to 441,000 citizens, you couldn't be more wrong. In the words of the most famous infomercial pitchmen, Ron Popeil, "But wait, there's more...."

The Canada Revenue Agency says it is warning about 213,000 Canadians who may have been paid twice under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program that they may be called upon to refund the money.But reimbursement is not necessary right away, the agency says. The CRA suspended debt collection for the duration of the pandemic emergency.

“The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has sent letters to people who may have requested the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) from both Service Canada and the CRA, and who may be required to reimburse an amount to the CRA, ”a CRA spokesperson said in an email. “The letters did not require immediate payment; rather, they informed the taxpayer that there might be an obligation to repay the amounts received.

Fantastic. These people have double-dipped into this fund, paid for by taxpayer money, and they will not be asked to pay this money back right away because the collection department of our gov't is suspending debt collection for the duration of the pandemic, which could last 300 years for all we know.

In other words, kiss that money goodbye, we will never see a dime paid back because there is literally no reason to pay it back. 

What a well thought out program. Hats off to those that decided to put in place a program with absolutely zero oversight, relying solely on the goodwill and fine intentions of 8.6 million Canadian's.

I'm so proud I might go eat a delicious maple leaf.