March 8, 2026
As new and noteworthy developments unfold during the season, I will update this page. For preparers of income tax and benefit returns, see the following page.
ESSENTIALS
After staying silent for many months on this issue, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) finally announced in late January that it has introduced a new grant program for the next three years. This program will pay $5 per return filed with a COIN. (In a forthcoming article, I will explain why I think this new grant program, while welcome, is still unsatisfactory.)
Last year, I wrote that the CRA’s recommended income ceilings for CVITP client selection, which had been the same for over six years, were now too low as they excluded larger families with incomes below the poverty line. I suggested that the CRA needed to revise these upward. Toward the end of 2025, the CRA did just that, recommending a new set of revised income ceilings. These can be found here.
GOOD TO KNOW
The CRA will be experimenting with automatic tax filing on a small scale this year. But it will only introduce this option in 2027, inviting a limited number of low-income households to use this new method.
In the meantime, the CRA will once again be inviting a large number of low-income households to use its automated service (mostly by phone), called SimpleFile, to submit their returns. Traditionally, only a very small percentage of those receiving the invitation (generally around 4%) choose to use SimpleFile. Most use other methods for filing their return. Many CVITP clients are among those who receive these CRA invitations.
Recently the CRA has started to become more assertive in pursuing clients with debts related to COVID benefits they have been unable to provide proof of eligibility for.