Globe and Mail
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada will begin automatic tax filing in 2027, with a full rollout expecting to benefit 5.5 million individuals by 2029. This marks an important advancement for Canada’s tax-and-transfer system. Currently, many benefits earmarked for low-income Canadians go unclaimed, since those with low incomes are not legally required to file taxes. For instance, data from 2016 suggests that 10 to 12 per cent of Canadians do not file taxes, with roughly 20 per cent of Canadians below the official poverty line not filing.
The immediate benefits of this announcement are clear: low-income Canadians with relatively simple tax situations will now receive the benefits they are entitled to, including the Canada Child Benefit, the Canada Workers Benefit, the Guaranteed Income Supplement and the GST/HST refundable tax credit. But this move also opens up a more ambitious possibility: re-envisioning the design of benefit programs directed at low-income Canadians.
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