The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has introduced a new proposed mandate dictating that all tax payments over $10,000 must be done electronically rather than by mailed cheque, MPs on a House of Commons committee heard Tuesday.
A clause of the bill reads, “The remittance or payment of an amount to the Receiver General must be made as an electronic payment if the amount of the remittance or payment exceeds $10,000, unless the payor or remitter cannot reasonably remit or pay the amount in that manner.”
Conservative MP Marty Morantz asked Gwyer why the government is aiming to change electronic tax filing requirements, to which she responded that the changes are meant to “facilitate the ability for Canadians to file their taxes and to communicate with the CRA electronically.”
Gwyer added that the bill also proposes eliminating certain hand-signature requirements “to facilitate the ability for people to file more easily.”
“Large payments above $10,000 are required to be made electronically, so that’s really intended to increase the efficiency of the tax system,” she said.
Morantz asked if Canadians owing more than $10,000 a year in taxes could still file their taxes “the old fashioned way” if they preferred to not pay electronically.
“What if somebody doesn’t want to do that, or doesn’t know how to do that? Why can’t they pay by cheque?” he asked.
Gwyer answered that “there’s nothing that would prevent someone from filing their tax return on paper.”
“There’s different options in terms of how that payment can be done,” she said.
However, after Morantz asked further questions, Gwyer said tax payments over $10,000 will have to be made electronically if the proposals outlined in Bill C-47 pass.
“I think the CRA would provide guidance to people,” she said. “I can’t speak to their practices, but I assume if there was some reason why it wasn’t possible for a payment to be made, that they would potentially work with someone to find a solution.”
