Question Period Note: 2021 Pensions Programs Tax Slips

Why did some seniors received their Old Age Security (OAS), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and One-time Payment for Older Seniors tax slips late?

• Service Canada regrets that an error occurred related to tax slips that have been sent to some individuals who received the One-Time Payment for Older Seniors.
• Service Canada attempted to contact all affected individuals by phone and impacted seniors were issued amended tax slips in time for the tax filing season.
• The majority of seniors were not sent erroneous tax slips, and received their correct tax slips before February 28. Every effort has been made to minimize delays; however, some individuals received their tax slips in March.
• This delay will not impact any benefits, nor will it have an effect on benefit eligibility, as individuals had until May 2, 2022 to file their 2021 personal income tax return.

The One-Time Payment for Older Seniors (OTP) was a taxable grant issued in summer 2021 to 3.4M OAS recipients born on or before June 30, 1947.

During the tax slip printing process, an administrative error was identified with the slips being issued to clients. As soon as this error was identified, all mailing was stopped; however, 67,797 incorrect slips were mailed before this error was identified. This error was only present on the printed tax slips; the tax information sent electronically to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) was correct, and will be available online to clients.

As a result of this error, two issues needed to be addressed:
• Amended OTP tax slips were issued before February 28 to the 67,797 clients whose tax slips were mailed before the error was discovered;
• All tax slips that were printed (but not mailed) were securely destroyed, and corrected tax slips printed and mailed.
This interruption in the print schedule caused a delay in the completion of this mailing. As OAS and CPP tax slips are printed and mailed together with the OTP tax slip, all pensions programs tax slips were impacted by this delay.

All tax slips have been mailed in advance of tax filing deadline.

As such, this delay will not impact any benefits, nor will it have an effect on benefit eligibility, as individuals had until the May 2, 2022 deadline to file their 2021 personal income tax return.

The data provided to CRA is correct. If clients consulted the online version of the OTP tax slip on My CRA Account, they saw the correct tax slip. As well, if clients used the function to prepopulate their tax return, the correct information was included on the tax return.

In collaboration with the CRA, call centres and in-person centres have been provided instructions on how to respond to client questions. This includes how to guide them to correctly report the OTP on their income tax return, or requesting a reassessment from CRA if the return was filed with the erroneous information.

If a senior has questions about delayed pensions tax slips, they can contact Service Canada at 1-800-277-9914.

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