CRA wants a pandemic benefit back? Two cases that were cancelled
Yan Zhou (周艳) · Licensed Life & Health Insurance Agent, Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA)
The short version
- A CRA letter demanding repayment of a pandemic benefit is a decision, not the final word.
- Two real cases: ,600 cancelled, and ,600 cancelled after two earlier refusals.
- Being refused once does not end it. Different evidence can produce a different outcome.
- What matters is proving you qualified at the time, not explaining that repaying is difficult now.
If something here applies to you, just ask me. Plain answers, no sales pitch.
(General tax information only. It is not tax advice. Circumstances differ — check the CRA website or speak to a qualified accountant before you act.)
Where the letter comes from
CERB and CRB were paid quickly and verified afterwards.
On later review CRA concluded some recipients had not met the conditions, and asked for the money back.
The letter states an amount and a deadline. Most people read the amount and start working out how to find it.
It is a first assessment, not a final judgment.
First case: ,600
A couple received letters totalling ,600 between them.
CRA’s stated reason was insufficient proof of income. They were self-employed, so their income had none of the tidiness of a T4.
I assembled the bank records, invoices and client payments for the relevant periods into a single timeline.
It showed what they had actually earned when they applied. The full amount was cancelled.
Second case: ,600
Harder, because she had already submitted twice and been refused twice.
A Notice of Collection had been issued, which is the stage before active recovery.
The problem was what she had submitted. Her evidence showed that repaying would cause hardship — a different question from whether she qualified when she applied.
We resubmitted with income records for the eligibility periods themselves. The whole ,600 was reversed.
What to do with the letter
- Identify precisely which periods are in question. Not which year — which two-week periods.
- Find income evidence for those periods. Bank records, invoices, contracts, client payments.
- Prove you qualified then. Do not argue about your present circumstances.
- Reply inside the stated deadline. Silence is treated as agreement.
- A refusal is not the end. New evidence can change the answer.
One thing to be clear about
Both cases succeeded because these people did qualify. The evidence existed and had not been presented well.
If the documentation does not exist, nobody can invent it for you. That is a different situation and it needs a different conversation.
For CRA correspondence generally, see review letters.
If something here applies to you, just ask me. Plain answers, no sales pitch.
(General tax information only. It is not tax advice. Circumstances differ — check the CRA website or speak to a qualified accountant before you act.)
