The Canada Revenue Agency will no longer mail T1 tax returns to paper filers, a move expected to save $1.8 million annually. Blacklock's Reporter says Canadians who prefer traditional paper filings will now have to download and print their own forms.The change affects the dwindling number of taxpayers who still submit paper returns. Last year, the CRA sent 411,299 “educational letters” to these filers, informing them of online options and providing instructions for obtaining paper forms themselves. Paper filings peaked at 1,725,202 in 2021, fell below a million in 2023, and dropped to 507,299 last year.“This initiative supports a greener future in line with the Greening Government Strategy,” CRA managers wrote in an Inquiry of Ministry tabled in the Commons. “Though we encourage online filing, paper copies remain available to those who request them.”.Conservative MP Alex Ruff pressed the CRA on the number of automatically mailed T1 packages, prompting the disclosure. Lindsay Gwyer, CRA’s director general of tax legislation, emphasized that the shift is not mandatory. “It would still be possible for someone who wants to receive them on paper to request to receive them on paper,” she told the Senate national finance committee.The CRA has long discouraged paper transactions. Parliament’s 2023 Bill C-47 prohibited cheques by mail for payments over $10,000, though the law allowed for alternative arrangements. A 2012 proposal to mandate direct deposit was withdrawn after resistance, with surveys showing 37% of Canadians wary of sharing bank information with federal agencies.
