CRA wins against two more taxpayers fighting pandemic aid repayment

financialpost.com:

It’s been more than four years since the government launched its first COVID-19 relief program in the form of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), ultimately replaced by the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB). But the courts continue to hear cases brought by individuals who have been asked to repay benefits they should have never received because they simply didn’t qualify.

As a reminder, the CERB was offered for any four-week period between March 15, 2020, and Oct. 3, 2020, if an applicant could demonstrate they stopped working “for reasons related to COVID-19” and had income of at least $5,000 from (self-)employment in 2019 or in the 12 months preceding their first application.

The CERB was subsequently replaced by the CRB, which became available for any two-week period between Sept. 27, 2020, and Oct. 23, 2021, for eligible employees and self-employed workers who suffered a loss of income due to the pandemic. The CRB’s eligibility criteria were similar to those of the CERB.

A couple of benefit cases that recently found their way to court caught my eye. The first, decided in May, involved a taxpayer who was seeking judicial review of a Canada Revenue Agency officer’s decisions that the taxpayer was ineligible for several benefits, including the CRB, Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit and Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit.

In March 2022, the CRA informed the taxpayer he was ineligible for all three benefits because he did not meet the $5,000 minimum income requirement (among other conditions). In November 2022, he requested a second review of the CRA’s decisions. The CRA had several calls with the taxpayer and/or his wife, before reconfirming, in August 2023, its initial decision to disallow the benefits.

The taxpayer