Revenue Canada slams on the brakes

Dear Editor:

Perhaps I am a dinosaur, but I have been using our mail system to file my income tax return since 1969, and until now I have had no reason to change my preferred method. This year, however, is my first experience with filing a tax return during a pandemic.

My return was mailed near the end of March, and last week, once six weeks had gone by with no response, I called the Canada Revenue Agency to ask about my refund. After an hour of being on hold, I was finally connected with an agent who informed me their records indicated my return has not been received.

Upon telling the agent that I submitted my return back in March, she asked me how I had filed. I told her I mailed it in using the envelope provided with my tax package. “Oh,” the agent replied. “That might explain why we do not have your return marked as being received.”

There was a lot more to our conversation, to be sure, but the crux of the matter came down to one simple fact: the physical location I mailed my return to was closed due to the pandemic.

If my return was delivered to that facility, then it would remain untouched until the office was reopened, so it was impossible for the agent to confirm whether or not my return was physically received; nor could she provide a time frame for when I might expect my return to be processed, assuming of course that Canada Post had indeed delivered it.

I make every effort to keep abreast of what is going on, by reading the daily newspaper and watching the news on TV every single day, so I was aware that the tax-filing deadline had been extended until the end of May.

To my knowledge, however, nothing was ever mentioned in the news about any tax-processing centres being closed, even though I must admit it does make perfect sense considering the social distancing requirements.

Just the same, it would have been nice to know about any taxation centre closures before I mailed my return. So for anyone still planning on mailing their tax return, I suggest they consider submitting it online instead.

In hindsight, I certainly wish that I had.

David Korinetz

Penticton