When the CRA asked for proof of income greater than $5,000, he sent a T4A for a $25,000 Canada Council grant. “The CRA is insisting, to me, and to many other Canadian recipients of arts production grants, that grants received in the 2019 tax year do not count as income that proves eligibility,” Mr. It was more bad news for a multibillion-dollar sector already feeling severe effects of the pandemic. Some say they are also being denied access to benefits through the successor to CERB, the Canada Recovery Benefit, for the same reason. (The letters have already sparked upset from self-employed Canadians who thought they qualified for CERB payments, but have been informed that their net income was too low to qualify.)Īuthors, performing artists and visual artists are among those warned that they could have to repay the money. And they outline in detail how benefits can be repaid. Those “educational letters” don’t demand repayment, but they are only sent when the agency has a concern over eligibility.
The CRA sent form letters late last year to hundreds of thousands of Canadians who received CERB benefits, warning the funds may have to be repaid. Although the CRA has been telling artists that such grants don’t count as income under the CERB program, they do count as income at tax time. To be eligible, recipients must have had at least $5,000 in net income in 2019 or the 12 months preceding their application. “I’m not sure what CERB is for if not for people who are hanging on by their teeth,” said Toronto-based poet Ken Babstock, who says he was so worried about money after receiving a December notice from the CRA that he decided not to buy Christmas presents for his son.Īt issue are the CRA’s statements that artistic grants do not count as income for the purposes of meeting the Canada Emergency Response Benefit threshold. The government agency is also insisting that some artists are not eligible for payments under new income supports, leaving them to wonder why they have been excluded – and how they are going to get by.
CANADA REVENUE AGENCY STUDENT LOAN FREE
Log In Create Free AccountĪrtists across the country are facing demands from the Canada Revenue Agency that they repay emergency coronavirus benefits, even as some struggle to pay basic expenses after their incomes collapsed under the weight of the pandemic.