To get ready for a tax filing season like no other, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has introduced a number of measures to help taxpayers get the tax and benefit information they need.
The new service enhancements for the 2021 tax season include:
Additional call agents to further increase call centre capacity: Throughout COVID-19, the CRA has seen a significant increase in call volumes. To help manage this, the 2020 Fall Economic Statement allocated additional funding to the CRA for call centre operations.
Using this investment, the CRA hired additional agents who will help with increased call volumes. the CRA have also contracted a third-party service provider to assist with client service capacity issues. These agents will be able to answer general enquiries about emergency benefits, but they will not have access to taxpayers’ personal information.
New automated callback service – This new service lets callers ask for a call-back instead of waiting on hold. Callers on the individual tax enquiries, benefits enquiries, and business enquiries lines may be given the option of a callback when wait times reach a certain length. The new automated callback service is easy to use, secure, and helps save callers time on the phone.
Extended call centre hours: Leading up to and throughout tax-filing season, our Individual enquiries line is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 9pm local time, and extended Saturday hours will be 9am to 5pm as of February 27th.
Before calling the CRA, check Canada.ca: The goal is to ensure as much information as possible is available online – such as information on what a taxpayer should do if they received T4A/RL-1 slips for COVID-19 emergency benefits.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recognizes that this will be a tax-filing season like no other.
