As the April 30 tax-filing deadline looms large, a fresh set of complications has emerged for Canadian taxpayers. Less than three weeks prior to the cutoff, numerous Canadians have discovered that crucial tax slips, including T3s and others, are conspicuously absent from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website. This has thrown a wrench in the works for those relying on the convenient “auto-fill” feature offered by online filing services.
The root cause, as revealed by a CRA spokesperson, is a new validation process implemented in January. This initiative aims to guarantee the accuracy of T3s, T5s, and other slips submitted by companies and organizations to the government. While the intention is noble, the consequence has been the unavailability of these documents on the CRA portal, much to the frustration of taxpayers. “We understand taxpayers’ concerns,” the spokesperson acknowledged, adding that the CRA is working tirelessly to rectify the situation, including collaborating with slip issuers to ensure timely access on the platform. The hope is that the “majority” of the missing slips will be accessible online by mid-April. However, there’s no sign of an extension to the April 30 filing deadline.
In the meantime, the government website advises taxpayers to use the physical slips provided by employers, banks, and other entities to file their taxes manually. Additionally, filers are cautioned that the TFSA contribution limit shown in their CRA accounts “may not reflect the latest information.” To steer clear of overcontributing, taxpayers are urged to cross-reference with the records from their issuers as the CRA works to update online account details. The government has apologized for the inconvenience and thanked taxpayers for their patience.
This isn’t the first hurdle Canadians have faced during the 2024 tax-filing season. Last month, many early filers encountered a roadblock when attempting to submit returns with capital gains or losses. The culprit? A last-minute decision by the federal government to postpone a planned increase to the capital gains inclusion rate. Initially set to take effect last summer, the rate for capital gains above $250,000 was to rise from one-half to two-thirds. But the Department of Finance pushed the change back to 2026 in late January, just weeks before tax season kicked off. This left the CRA scrambling to update its systems, and the problem was only resolved in mid-March.
As the clock ticks down to the tax-filing deadline, Canadians are left navigating these unexpected challenges, hoping for a smoother end to the tax season.
