Communication is key when it comes to changes the Canadian Revenue Agency has made for this year’s tax season.

This year sees additions of processing times on the CRA website so you can look at the approximate time for your return or request. Canadian’s will also have the ability to check the call center wait time, on the phone or through the CRA website. The CRA also has a new chatbot system which will answer general tax filing questions.

TJ Madigan with CRA explains that one of the biggest additions was introduced last year, an auto-fill system that he says not a lot of people know about yet.
“The CRA has your T4 slips, your T4A slips, in most cases on file. In your online tax software there will now be a button to auto-fill your return, we can just fill in the blanks, no more copying over slips like you used to do in the olden days.” Madigan also explains that communication was very important this year. “We’ve listened to Canadian’s and we heard that they want us to make our services easier to understand, more transparent, and make the information easier to access. I think you’ll find that taxes are easier to file than they’ve ever been this year and I think it only gets better from here.”

For those who end up owing taxes, paying was made easier by allowing Canadians to pay right online in addition to the usual ways of paying through Canada post on through financial institutions. One addition that is also seemingly going viral right now is the chance to view un-cashed cheques. The system will search for any credits that have not been redeemed and currently Madigan says there are over a billion dollars in un-cashed cheques across the country.

New tax credits will also be available this year including the enhanced version of the Working Income Tax Benefit called the Canada workers benefit that goes to low income families and individuals that work. The Canada training credit, a refundable tax credit for tuition and courses that are taken in Canada.