Sep 27 2022, I received an acknowledgment letter for relief request submitted online Aug 6 2022 - 51 calendar days.
In the acknowledgement letter they indicate that the request is routine which means that it usually takes up to six months to process, however due to the COVID-19 pandemic and higher than normal requests it could take up to 15 months to process.
This is absurd on all accounts from my perspective - 51 days to acknowledge an online submission?
Can’t this be assigned immediately to an agent/officer by automatic reply with a copy to the taxpayer. I also find it ridiculous when calling and providing the submission confirmation number that they do not have a system to view the submission.
The CRA always requires taxpayers to respond within 30 days, why is it acceptable from them to take 180 days for a routine process?
From where I’m sitting, using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse is passé, to delay by 270 days is laughable. Who in their right mind would came up with this stuff.
Am I being too difficult? What am I missing? And how can we have them return to some semblance of “regular” post covid and timely processing times?
I would say it’s time to file a service complaint. In my latest experience I waited 10 days for a response to my service complaint without any call or acknowledgement. I then called the Tax Ombudsperson. That got some action.
After re-reading the original post I see that I had misread the dates. In my case the matter had been outstanding for much longer than 270 days. I think the delay in your case is more like the new normal for CRA. Their goal is to meet their service standard 80% of the time. There’s no way that’s happening. And if they miss their own service standard there is no rush to resolve your issue since there is no longer a deadline.
Generally both online and paper documents are processed by the same processing unit in date and time sequence. The exception is the initial tax return processing.
At specific times of the year priority and additional resources are applied to certain areas. At these times processing time frames can drop from 3 months to 1 week or less.
In general, the big time saving for online document submission is the turn around time to complete the processing once it has commenced. The additional benefit of online submission is the proof of submission of the PDF package with tracking number and a date and time stamp. There is nothing comparable for mailed or faxed paper documents.
Please note that CRA often throws out paper documents. Never send your only copy.
I’ve been waiting for 2 years for access to a deceased taxpayer to file the final T1 for the estate. When the Executrix calls, they tell her they see the documents (will, etc) and aren’t sure why it hasn’t been approved. When I call later the same day, they say there is no will on file! We’ve uploaded the documents 3 times now - still no Rep a Client access!
CRA needs to stop with the “pandemic delays” bs and get back to work!
Same thing with simple adjustments. Client has DTC on file for her mother but apparently it’s too complex and they need more time so that the daughter can claim the transfer
So I see I am not alone. I have numerous issues with CRA processing paperwork. One of the better ones is matching Dept. not processing amended Tslips and collections calling and harassing clients for payment. I sent the CRA Collections officer the confirmation slip of filing and they then tell me to re-submit the amended slip as they cannot find it. They are definitely FUBAR.
I filed a relief request in July 2021 and STILL WAITING! I received an acknowledgement letter in January 2022 (6 months later) saying it could take 19 months to respond. Still nothing! Something needs to be done. Perhaps the CRA should start paying a 5% penalty to the taxpayer when they miss a deadline. With current inflation rates, 1-2% interest is no longer acceptable.