April 27, 2022

To: All Members

Re: Teacher Tax Filings for 2021

The Association is providing the below information about Bill C-8, An Act to implement certain provisions of the economic and fiscal update tabled in Parliament on December 14, 2021 and other measures and its implications regarding teacher tax filings for 2021. This item was brought to the attention of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF/FCE) Board of Directors at its recent Board Meeting. By way of this memo, the NLTA is sharing what we know so far from the CTF/FCE. 

Background on the Issue
 
It appears that teachers and educators who claim Line 46900 – Eligible educator school supply tax credit for their 2021 tax return will experience delays with their Notices of Assessment (and subsequent refunds). CRA has informed educators who have inquired about their returns that they would not be processing the 2021 tax returns for anyone who has claimed Line 46900 – Eligible educator school supply tax credit until the Royal Assent of Bill C-8 had been achieved. Bill C-8 includes an increase in the School Supplies Tax Credit from 15% to 25%, something the CTF/FCE had advocated for.

Based on CTF/FCE inquiries, it seems that to the combined effect of the late Federal Fall Economic Update that included the increased commitment, the late tabling of the bill to legislate the change, and the minority government scenario, the federal government has been unable to pass this piece of legislation in the timeline they expected. As a result, there is a delay when many teachers and educators would expect to be seeing their Notices of Assessment.

Next Steps

The CTF/FCE has reached out to the Government of Canada to express its disappointment that this expected delay was not communicated sooner and that other options outside of an indefinite delay until the Royal Assent of Bill C-8 were not explored.
 
CTF/FCE has written to staff in the Minister of Finance’s Office, the Minister of National Revenue’s Office, and the Commissioner of Revenue’s Office. To date, only the Minister of National Revenue’s staff have returned calls for answers; while they recognized the severity of the issue and have agreed to provide support on the issue, they encouraged CTF/FCE to work directly with the Commissioner of Revenue as they are the appropriate party for issues such as this. The NLTA will provide any further updates as soon as we receive more information from CTF/FCE.
 
If you experience these delays, we encourage you to please inform CTF/FCE Advocacy and Government Relations Coordinator, Mark Garcia via email to mgarcia@ctf-fce.ca; the CTF/FCE is hoping to track how many teachers are impacted by this issue.