The Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was a lifeline for a good number of Canadians who found themselves in dire straits early in the COVID-19 pandemic. .Many of those Canadians are now receiving letters from the tax man saying they owe $2,000 for a CERB payment from the CRA. .According to the CRA, the $2,000 repayment request was for an advanced cheque that people received when the CRA began sending out the payments..The CRA announced Tuesday that it is mailing "notices of redetermination" to inform people of debts owing on their CRA accounts..Throughout the pandemic, the federal government set up the $2,000-per-month CERB payment — later called the Canada Recovery Benefit — to assist people who lost their income or saw their employment hours significantly reduced as a result of the pandemic lockdowns.."Starting [Tuesday], the CRA will begin sending Notices of Redetermination (NoRs) to inform Canadians of the debts that have been established on their CRA accounts. Canadians who receive these letters, but still believe they are eligible for these payments, should contact the CRA and provide any additional information required to validate their claim," the CRA said on its website.."This follows the Notices of Debt (NoDs) that ESDC began sending in November 2021, to benefit recipients who received an advance payment of $2,000 in 2020 but did not remain on CERB long enough to fully reconcile that payment by applying for subsequent payment periods. ESDC will issue the last of these letters in July 2022.".Claimants who went back to work or cancelled their CERB payments before the CRA’s repayment period started in June 2021 are those who are receiving the NoRs in the mail.."The CRA and ESDC want to assure Canadians they will continue to be supported when calling in to discuss their unique situations. ... There will be no interest or penalties applied to any repayments. The Government of Canada will also work with all impacted individuals to ensure any questions they may have are answered," said the CRA.."We recognize that receiving this type of correspondence can be stressful and we remain committed to supporting Canadians. Individuals are encouraged to follow the directions they receive in any correspondence from the Government of Canada.".Moose Jaw MP Fraser Tolmie says the NoRs are ill-timed for Canadians. .“Quite honestly the timing of these payment notices is very bad. We’re in the middle of a global energy crisis, an inflationary crisis at home, the war in Ukraine. It’s deeply insensitive and shows how out-of-touch this government is right now,” he said..“It was a rushed program that’s come out. It was not clearly designed. It was not clearly understood by the people who were applying. I don’t think it was actually understood by the people doling out the money here. There’s obviously a huge flaw in the system.” .The system flaw Tolmie alluded to is that people applied for unemployment benefits like EI just before CERB cheques were issued and those people received CERB cheques in the mail rather than their EI payments.
