Taxpayers complain of long waits for the CRA to fix its errors, deliver refunds
CBC
As the 2025 tax season approaches, Bill Bisson is stuck in tax limbo, still waiting for the Canada Revenue Agency to resolve a $3,471 penalty stemming from his 2023 return — a charge he and his tax adviser say is an obvious CRA error.
“It’s frustrating, it has created a lot of stress for me,” said Bisson, who lives in Beaver Bank, N.S., just outside Halifax. “It just keeps hanging over my head.”
Bisson is one of a number of Canadians enduring long and frustrating waits for the CRA to address issues involving their tax returns, including mistakes they say the agency made.
On its website, the CRA warns of processing delays that could add months to waits for several key services, like certain disputes with the agency, tax adjustments — including for the disability tax credit — and requests to waive CRA-imposed penalties.
Bisson is disputing his penalty because his tax adviser determined it was the result of a CRA error — the accidental doubling of one of his income slips when the agency assessed his 2023 taxes.
“I've done nothing wrong,” said Bisson. “I submitted all my taxes.”
In March 2025, his adviser filed an official request for the CRA to waive the penalty. The agency says on its website that it aims to resolve these types of cases within six months, but it warns the current wait could be up to 12 months or longer.
Bisson has already waited ten months with no indication when his case will be addressed. Meanwhile, the penalty he’s disputing has grown from $3,471 to $3,836 due to mounting interest.
“I just want to get this resolved,” said Bisson, adding that the growing bill sometimes keeps him up at night.
“The wheels start turning, and you can end up losing two or three hours of sleep."
Financial and tax adviser Helena Ferreira says many of her clients have also encountered long delays to resolve their disputes with the CRA.
“It's been really, really hard to see some of these clients come into the office and they're literally in tears,” said Ferreira, founder of Advize Agenci Group, a tax services firm in Hamilton.
“All we could do is help them fight the system.”
Ferreira says two of the cases involved the CRA mistakenly doubling clients’ income slips on 2023 tax returns. One took 18 months to resolve, and she says the other has remained unresolved for more than a year.
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