My tax refund is being delayed indefinitely. It feels like I’m being punished for getting the CPP child rearing provision last year. I’m posting this for people who may receive a retroactive sum of money from CPP, in case the same thing happens to you at tax time. Also, calling CRA is a waste of time as you’ll see.
Last year I applied for and received the CPP child rearing provision. I got a large retroactive payment (over $10K). I have always had CPP withhold the 15% tax from my payments, so they withheld it from my retro payment. My 2023 tax slip from Service Canada includes the retro payment and the tax withheld from both the retro and monthly payments.
My tax situation is very simple. I’m single. The only income is CPP. I claim the Disability Tax Credit (not that it helps anything). When I file, I get the tax that was withheld back as a refund. I file my form electronically. It usually takes less than 2 weeks to get my refund.
The only thing that’s different on my tax form for 2023 is the amount of income and the amount of refund owing (over $3000). I also had to pay some provincial tax due to the higher income.
This time I filed it, checked my CRA account online, and it was received by CRA on February 19. This year CRA has added a “tracker” so you can check the progress of your form being processed. My “tracker” on Feb 19 said they need extra time to process my form. There was no time frame given and no reason. I suspect it’s because my income was higher.
I expected my form would be processed in 2 weeks, which is today (March 4). Checked the CRA account, no change or progress from Feb 19. I decided to call CRA. I had to redial their number for half an hour to get through, then wait 2 hours to speak with someone. She put me on hold for 15 minutes only to come back and tell me (word for word from the website) that my form hadn’t been processed and she couldn’t give me a time frame. She wouldn’t give me a reason for the delay either. I offered to provide any extra information they may need and was refused. She admitted that she can only see the same info as on CRA’s website. Then she told me to call back IN SIX MONTHS if I didn’t have my refund by then!
I think it’s outrageous that CRA would penalize a low income disabled person and withhold their tax refund for getting some extra money that they were entitled to. Then they stonewall and refuse to provide any reason or timeframe for the delay. I’d love to sue them, but I’m sure the legal fees would be more than the refund anyway. I can’t find anywhere to file a complaint. They only take complaints after your return is assessed. Meanwhile my tax return remains untouched. I’m starting to wonder if I should discontinue having my CPPD tax withheld in the first place.