More than two million Canadians will be able to file their taxes automatically this year.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said in a news release Thursday that it is opening up its SimpleFile by Phone service to more Canadians this tax season, while also for the first time making a digital option available for people who have filed their taxes in recent years.
This free automatic tax filing service will be offered to “individuals with low or fixed incomes and simple tax situations that remain unchanged from year to year,” Déborah Cléry, a CRA spokesperson, told Global News.
She said the invitation letters to eligible Canadians will be sent out via mail or their CRA account over the next couple of months.
Last year, the CRA invited more than 1.5 million people with a recent tax filing history to use the SimpleFile by Phone service.
The agency said 93 per cent of invitees had filed their tax returns by November 2024 and are receiving $3 billion in benefits and credit payments.
As part of a national pilot program, the agency also invited in July 2024 more than 500,000 lower-income individuals who had never filed a tax return or had a gap in their filing history to use the agency’s SimpleFile services by phone, online or mail options.
How does automatic tax filing work?
There will be two different options for automatic tax filing available to Canadians this tax season: phone and digital.
Starting Feb. 24, both services will be offered daily between 6 a.m. and 3 a.m. eastern, the CRA said.
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The invitation letter will lay out instructions and include phone numbers or a web link required to use each service.
“The SimpleFile services will ask you to verify your information and provide answers to a few quick questions – there are no calculations for you to do,” the CRA says.
“You do not need to speak to a CRA contact centre agent to use either of these services.”
Canadians will be able to file their taxes within five to 10 minutes with the phone option and in 20 minutes or less using a computer or mobile device.
In the fall economic statement released last month, the federal government said it is looking into expanding automatic tax filing to “middle class Canadians with simple tax situations.”
In addition, Ottawa is exploring options to make free online tax software more accessible to Canadians.
Canadians can start filing their 2024 tax returns online on Feb. 24 and the deadline to do so is April 30.
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