July 1, 2026
Summary
Initially launched in 2018 as an automated phone filing service, this was expanded in 2024 to include two other options: by paper and through one’s CRA account. The CRA also rebranded the service as SimpleFile.
Eligible individuals are invited to use the service. The number of invitations issued annually has increased significantly since 2018. In 2025, 2.1 million invitations were issued. But the adoption rate has been consistently around 4%. Regardless, the CRA plans to invite 3 million residents to use the service in 2026.
Given the very small number of users, one must ask the question: does this service deliver value?
This is the second section of the article entitled “Are Other CRA Programs Better At Helping Low-income Households File Their Returns?”
Launched in 2018 under the name “File My Return”, the CRA invited modest income and non-taxable individuals who had either never filed a tax return or had a gap in their filing history to use an automated service to file their returns. Initially, this automated service was offered only by phone.
But in 2024, two changes were made. First, the CRA changed the name of the initiative to SimpleFile. And second, the service was expanded to include the use of the individual’s CRA account if they had already established access. The CRA called these two methods for filing a return SimpleFile by Phone (formerly called “File My Return”) and SimpleFile Digital respectively. A third method called SimpleFile by Paper is available in theory, but I have yet to see it used.
In 2024, the CRA reported that it sent out 1.5 million invitations to use SimpleFile by Phone in February and a further 500,000 in July; these latter invitations were called a pilot.
Previous articles on this initiative:
- May 2023: Automatic Filing Is No Magic Fix For Getting Benefits To More Low-income People
- October 2024: Rebranding “File My Return” as “SimpleFile By Phone” Fails To Get Better Results
- October 2024: CRA’s Automatic Tax Filing – Shortcomings of the SimpleFile Pilot
- October 2025: Will Automatic Tax Filing Live Up To Its Promise? SimpleFile in 2024 & 2025
In 2025, the CRA reported that it sent out 2 million invitations to use SimpleFile by Phone and 100,000 invitations to use SimpleFile Digital through clients’ CRA accounts.
The CRA does not publish data on undelivered letters.
SimpleFile represents the CRA’s first foray into something closer to “automatic tax filing”.
A thin presence
In my last article on this subject, I covered in detail why the adoption rate for this initiative remains abysmally low. Despite the persistently poor performance, the CRA stated in its Departmental Plan for 2026-27 (published March 13, 2026) that: “During the summer mailout, the CRA will continue to offer SimpleFile to those who have never filed a return or have gaps in their filing history. By increasing the number of Canadians who can use the SimpleFile digital service, the CRA is making it easier for people with lower incomes and simple tax situations to automatically file returns and get the credits and benefits designed to support them.”
This initiative is no longer a pilot. The CRA has indicated that 3 million people will be eligible to use SimpleFile services in 2026. No performance result indicator or target for this initiative is included in the CRA’s Departmental Plan for 2026-27.
SimpleFile has proven its ineffectiveness over eight years, yet it continues to be promoted by the CRA. Why? Although very few people use the service, it may still be very convenient for these users. If the costs of offering this service are sufficiently low, it may represent another option for people to consider when filing their return. If CVITP volunteers were trained to help invitation recipients use this option, it might also lead to increased adoption rates as many traditional CVITP clients receive these invitations.