Personal tax deadline extension petition
We started a personal tax deadline extension petition to extend the CRA deadline on Change.org. We addressed the petition to Honourable Diane Lebouthillier as she is the Minister of National Revenue and responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency and administration of taxation law and collection.
Even though a protentional strike has been known for months, there has been no urgency from the The Canada Revenue Agency to extended it’s deadline despite more than 35,000 CRA workers who are striking.
“As a result of PSAC-UTE’s decision to begin labour action, Canadians should expect that some CRA services will be delayed or unavailable.” – CRA
See below the message from the petition:
The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier,
We the undersigned are preparers of personal income tax returns for Canadian taxpayers or ourselves(as Canadian tax payers) and are concerned about the lack of support provided by CRA to file personal tax returns given the strike by Public Service Alliance of Canada – Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC-UTE) employees. How are Canadians supposed to prepare their personal income tax returns with due care without the ability to ask questions? The CRA has a significant reduction in staff on personal inquires (1-800-959-8281) phone line, which impacts low-income Canadians the most, as they may not have access to a team accountants to answer their questions.
We request an extension to June 15, 2023 for all individuals.
Eric Saumure, CPA, CA
Zenbooks
Zenbooks advocates for Canadian taxpayers (individuals and businesses) on important issues. Including:
- Electronic signatures – As a professional accounting firm is important we advocate for Canadian taxpayers and insist on important topics that involve Canadian individuals and small business owners. In the past we’ve advocated for electronic signatures on CRA documents and have successfully pressured the CRA to recognize electronic documents on their all important T183 forms.
- Return Free Filings – We’ve also advocated for “return-free” filings for individual canadians to lower the financial and emotional burden for canadians to remain compliant with their obligations under the Income Tax Act.
While we normally advise small business owners in Canada, we understand the everyday Canadians who are struggling. Let’s share/Like and make some change!
What else can we do to get this extension approved? Comment below!
Eric Saumure, CPA, CA, is co-founder and Principal of Zenbooks, an online cloud-native accounting firm started in 2015 to serve 300+ Canadian small and mid-sized businesses. Before Zenbooks, Eric spent 3 years at KPMG. He specializes in financial strategy for growth-stage companies in the $1M-$10M revenue range, with a particular focus on marketing and creative agencies, SaaS, and professional services firms, e-commerce and non-profits.
Eric's commentary on Canadian small business, tax policy, and open banking has appeared in the Toronto Star, Canadian Press, CTV, CBC, Le Devoir, Policy Options, The Conversation, and Canadian Accountant. He was named to the OBJ Ottawa Forty Under 40 and recognized on both the Financial Times Americas' Fastest Growing Companies 2026 list and the Globe and Mail's Report on Business Top Growing Companies 2024. He is the principal researcher behind the Zenbooks Technology in Accounting Study, a national survey of 500 Canadian SMEs on accounting technology adoption, and the founder of OpenSME, a Canadian open banking advocacy organization. He serves on the board of Cystic Fibrosis Canada and member of the Montfort Hospital Association.
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