POLITICS
Self-employed Canadians caught in CERB confusion won’t have to repay, Trudeau says
The federal government will no longer require self-employed Canadians to pay back thousands of dollars in emergency benefits if they were among those who became ineligible due to confusion over how the program defined income.
The Canada Emergency Response Benefit was the largest support program for workers who suddenly lost almost all their income due to the pandemic. It was open to Canadians who had earned at least $5,000 in the previous 12 months or in the 2019 calendar year.
The CERB paid $2,000 a month over seven months, for a total maximum benefit of $14,000.
COVID-19 news: Updates and essential resources about the pandemic
In recent months, some self-employed Canadians said they were being told to repay their CERB money because they did not meet the $5,000 income threshold. The issue was that some had understood the threshold to mean gross income – before taxes or other deductions – but if the government used net income, they would fall below the threshold.
The Canada Revenue Agency has previously acknowledged that some explanations on its website and through CRA call centres “were unclear in the first days after the CERB was launched,” adding, “We regret that this lack of consistent clarity led some self-employed individuals to mistakenly apply to the CERB dispute being ineligible.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that the individuals in this situation will not have to pay back the benefit as long as they had $5,000 in gross income.
“For people who accessed CERB based on their gross income instead of their net income, as long as you met the other eligibility criteria, you will not have to return those CERB payments,” he said.
He also announced that the government would be providing one year without interest on certain 2020 tax debt, which would give people more flexibility to repay amounts. He said this will be available to individuals who received federal emergency benefits such as the CERB and earned as much as $75,000 in taxable income.
Know what is happening in the halls of power with the day’s top political headlines and commentary as selected by Globe editors (subscribers only). Sign up today.
THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM
|
