The CRA Just Opened Its CERB Snitch Line To Catch Benefit Cheats
Canadians have been getting a lot of help from the government during this time. However, there have been questions of how much fraud could be occurring with things like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. The Canada Revenue Agency has now given people a way to report on potential cheats.
The CRA updated its page on reporting suspected tax or benefit cheating to include details on reporting fraudulent CERB recipients.
The page also provides information on reporting for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Student Benefit.
The agency lets people know what information they should have ready and be willing to provide if they are reporting any potential fraud, in addition to the person or business's full name.
For the CERB, that includes the person's work situation (for example, if they are self-employed), their employer, and anything that would affect their eligibility, such as earning more than $1000 a month or applying for other benefits.
That also applies to those receiving the CESB, however, additional information such as the person's educational institution and plans for future enrollment can also be included.
For the CEWS, those who are reporting any potential cheating should include the type of business and the number of employees affected.
This all goes hand-in-hand with other information that should always be included with any reports of fraud.
Any reports should include as many supporting documents as possible. These could be anything from invoices and receipts to cheques and financial statements.
You can also include other identifying factors such as spending and lifestyles that don't appear to be in line with a person's income level.
Leads can be submitted online, by phone, mail, or fax. Supporting documents should be mailed or faxed in addition to reports made online or by phone.
Instances of fraud tied to government assistance offered during the pandemic has been a major issue for Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer.