Select any or all that applies:

 Administrative Injustice*

 Professional Misconduct*

 Human Error*                                   

Computer Glitches*

 Other: _________________________________________________

When my friend Dinesh told me his story, I was confused as to why this was happening in an advanced country like Canada.

First let me relay what I was told:

1. Dinesh had to call Service Canada several times and visit their office thrice primarily because allegedly his licensed CPA made an error in filing his tax returns for 2023.
   
2. On a separate matter, Dinesh had to call CRA innumerable times and had to send several letters to CRA due to all the above four reasons*.
3. Dinesh requested his CPA for assistance to resolve the tax related problems since he had paid him $145.00 to do his simple taxes. And the accountant refused and pointedly told Dinesh to contact CRA and Service Canada directly.

Now the story about dealing with CRA with absolute facts as told by Dinesh (and supported by evidence):

1. Dinesh is a retired senior citizen and survives on government pension and benefits.
2. Dinesh has been using a tax specialist to file his taxes for several years and most recently he used a licensed CPA since 2022.
3. Dinesh got married in January 2023 and informed his CPA who included that information when filing his taxes for the year 2023.
4. The CPA provided a detailed letter to Disesh on April 16, 2024, about how much to expect for his benefits, etc. but. did not advise Dinesh that he should send a registered letter to CRA informing them about the change in his status from single to married and provide them with all the details including date of marriage, marriage certificate, history of his wife, etc. etc.
5. In May 2024 Dinesh stopped receiving his OTB, GST and CCR benefits which he was receiving regularly every year.
6. Dinesh was not sure why his benefits had stopped and believed that if there was a system glitch he would eventually receive those three benefits.
7. Dinesh asked his accountant why the benefits were stopped since the accountant mentioned in his letter to Dinesh dated April 16, 2024 after filing his tax returns that he would receive the benefits.
8. In July 2024 Dinesh checked his CRA online portal and found that he owed CRA $1114.06. But the surprising thing is Dinesh did not receive any letter in the mail informing him that he owed CRA $1114.06. Nor was his accountant willing to help him.
9. Dinesh attempted to call CRA several times and was either made to hold on the phone or the line disconnected after waiting.
10. Dinesh finally got to speak to a CRA agent and informed her about the amount of $1114.06 outstanding in his account with CRA. The agent informed him that he had to send a letter to CRA informing about the change in his status and when he got married along with a copy of the marriage certificate.
11. Dinesh immediately sent a letter to CRA on October 28, 2024 via the CRA online document submission portal, with the information the agent asked him to provide.
12. Nothing happened for several months. From subsequent interaction with CRA, it appears that CRA agents do not allegedly check the documents that they receive via the CRA online document submission portal, even though the system confirms that the documents were received by CRA!
13. Again, after several attempts Dinesh got to speak to a CRA agent in May 2025 and informed her of his situation. That agent listened patiently to Dinesh and asked to speak to his spouse. After speaking to his spouse, the agent confirmed that she had updated Dinesh and his spouse’s records in the system and there would be nothing owing to CRA. The agent confirmed that Dinesh would receive retroactively his benefits, and a letter would be sent to him.
14. Nothing happened.
15. Dinesh contacted CRA in June and spoke to an agent who once again asked the same questions as the previous agent had asked and admitted that there were some computer glitches and the records were now updated, and Dinesh would receive the back payments. She asked him to send a letter providing information about his wife, which he did the second time.
16. Dinesh got an email to check his online portal. When he checked his online portal he was surprised to see that he was allotted
    Credit for OTB for Jan 2025 $360.00, but credit of $13.31 was applied to amount owing and therefore he received only $346.69.
17. Dinesh wrote several letters to CRA requesting for information as to why he owed CRA $1114.06 and he did not receive a single response.
18. Dinesh contacted his CPA and asked him the same question. The accountant advised Dinesh to contact CRA directly.
19. Dinesh received another email from CRA to check his online portal. Once again when he checked his online portal, he was shocked to see that $149.98 was allotted to him, but that amount was being used to pay the money he owed and therefore he received $0.00.
20. Dinesh tried to call CRA last week and was surprised to learn that the CRA benefits phone line number 1-800-387-1193 has new options which do not allow you to speak to an agent.
21. Dinesh called the general number 1-877-627-6645 and requested the agent to transfer to the benefits line.
22. When Dinesh spoke to the agent, he was indeed gratified that this agent took the time to do an in-depth analysis of why he owed CRA $1114.06. He was shocked to learn that this was due to the missing information in Dinesh’s account. So, the agent asked him the same questions which the previous two CRA agents had asked him before. She confirmed that that information was missing from his records. The agent assured Dinesh that now the records were finally updated, and he would receive his back payments. She did confirm that this would take time since the timelines when the system updates for each benefit is on a different cycle.
23. Dinesh is now waiting.

Now the story of Dinesh dealing with Service Canada as relayed by Dinesh with supporting evidence:

•  Service Canada sent a letter to Dinesh in January 2025 (when he was out of the country) enclosing a questionnaire due to some discrepancies in the tax returns for 2022/2023.
• When Dinesh returned to Canada and saw the letter and questionnaire he took it to his accountant to complete the form since there was some alleged errors in the 2023 tax returns which the accountant had completed, and he made Dinesh to sign it instead of signing it himself.
• From the alleged small error that the accountant allegedly made in Dinesh’s tax returns for 2023, Dinesh is now allegedly having problems with Service Canada.
• Dinesh sent the form to Service Canada who sent him another complicated questionnaire which he requested the same accountant for help to complete since it involves figures.
• The accountant refused to help Dinesh.
• Dinesh contacted Service Canada over the phone, but the agent could not help Dinesh.
• Dinesh went to a Service Canada office and the agent saw the complicated form and asked Dinesh to have his accountant complete the form and to send whatever documents he had to Service Canada.
• Dinesh completed the form to the best of his ability (since his accountant refused to help him) and collected the required documents and once again went to meet the accountant, but, he was not available. So, Dinesh went to Service Canada office to find out whether he had attached the right documents. Dinesh met with a very well experienced agent who informed Dinesh that his accountant should have helped him. Nevertheless, the agent  did an in-depth analysis, asked Dinesh some questions, made his notes on the form and accepted the cover letter and documents from Dinesh. He informed Dinesh that it would take several months to get a resolution.
• Dinesh is now patiently waiting.

From the above, you the reader have an option to give your feedback by completing the following choices:

Select any or all that applies:

  Administrative Injustice*

 Professional Misconduct*

 Human Error*

 Computer Glitches*

 Other: _________________________________________________

Thank you kindly.