Report

Expansion of SimpleFile by Phone and the implementation of an automatic tax filing system

Jun 13, 2024

This report provides an analysis of the budgetary impact of expanding the SimpleFile by Phone service offered by CRA as well as a proposed new automatic tax filing service in response to a request from Senator Percy Downe.

On June 19, 2024, Figure 2 and its accompanying text in the report were updated to reflect information provided by the Canada Revenue Agency after the initial publication.

Supplementary Data (xlsx)

Highlights

In Budget 2023, the Government announced its intention to increase the number of Canadians eligible for SimpleFile by Phone to two million by 2025, as well as to introduce a new automatic income tax filing service.
PBO estimates that the cost of expanding the SimpleFile by Phone service will amount to $2 million over the projection period.
Assuming that CRA deploys an automatic tax filing service through which it completes the tax return of all non-filers on whom it holds sufficient information, the amount of additional government benefits that could be paid to non-filers through the service is estimated to range from $1.6 billion in 2024-25 to $1.8 billion in 2028-29.
The total administrative cost of implementing and operating an automatic tax filing system is estimated to range from $57 million in 2024-25 to $65 million in 2028-29.