Canadian woman says after CRA mistakenly declared her dead, she has been 'resurrected'
June Miller said the mistake, although now resolved, caused her some distress as she tried to figure out how to navigate the situation, CTV News reported. The 65-year-old resident of Vancouver shared her story in a Facebook post on June 24.
'After losing my husband, I was wrongfully declared dead by the CRA,' she said.
'They cut off my pension, deactivated my SIN, and now I have no income, no access to support, and just $7 to my name. I can't even prove I'm alive without documents I can't afford.'
She decided to start a GoFundMe fundraiser, entitled 'CRA Took My Life on Paper — Now I Can't Pay to Stay Alive.' She raised $870 after less than a week and posted an update on the webpage thanking people for their support.
'Your kindness and support have reminded me that there is still humanity in this world, even when the system fails,' she wrote. 'Because of your generosity, I've found the strength to keep fighting to reclaim my life after being wrongly declared dead by the CRA. Every single dollar you gave is helping me survive while I work to fix what should never have happened.'
In an emailed statement to National Post, CRA spokesperson TJ Madigan said the agency cannot comment on specific taxpayer situations. However, in general, he said, situations like these could happen for a variety of reasons, such as human error, a miscommunication from another government department, or an error made when a return is filed on behalf of a deceased person.
'Despite safeguards to ensure accuracy of its files, on very rare occasions an individual may erroneously be declared deceased with respect to their records with the Government of Canada,' the statement continued.
'The CRA regrets these types of situations and is committed to providing the best possible service to Canadians. We take this seriously and we continue to validate and analyze these errors, and implement changes as necessary, to ensure that, wherever possible, they are prevented.'
The CRA regrets these types of situations and is committed to providing the best possible service to Canadians
CRA
The agency said it understands that such errors can be 'alarming' and have 'financial implications.'
Last September, after the death of her husband Giorgio, Miller mailed his final tax return in May, Daily Hive reported. She included her own tax return in the same envelope.
She said she received a notice of assessment back from the CRA — but it was addressed to 'the estate of the late June Miller,' per CTV News. When she went to verify her account online, she said she was locked out.
'So I called them and they said, 'You're deceased.' I said, 'You're talking to me! Deceased, what are you saying? You have to change that.' And they said, 'Well, there's a process. You have to prove that you're alive,'' she told CTV News.
She provided Service Canada with documents in person that confirmed her identity, as well as a letter from her doctor. She said she was told that, even though she had just retired, she may not receive Canada Pension Plan payments while she was declared dead.
She said she also had to apply for a new social insurance number because her old one had been deactivated.
On Monday, the CRA and Service Canada called Miller to tell her the issue was resolved. She told CTV News she was 'resurrected.' She expects to receive pension payments by the end of this month.
'In situations where it is determined that an error was made, the process is to simply remove the date of death from the taxpayer's file and the taxpayer's CRA account is restored,' per the CRA's statement.
'This also reverses any letters or changes to taxes or benefits, which were issued in error. The reversal is immediate, though it can sometimes take a few weeks for letters to be re-issued and adjustments to be recalculated.'
Porter airline CEO lost millions 'high-risk' day trading, now he's suing Canada's tax department
CRA looking for the owner of 160 cheques worth over $100K. Could it be you?
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Expert Reveals Diddy Faces Very Long Prison Sentence Due To Hint From Judge
A former prosecutor has warned that Sean "Diddy" Combs will likely face a lengthy prison sentence after beating his top sex crimes charges. The music mogul, whose case has attracted national attention, was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution and not guilty of the sex trafficking and racketeering charges. According to the legal expert, the possibility of a lengthy sentence was hinted at by the trial judge, who also denied Sean "Diddy" Combs' bail following the verdict. After several weeks of trial, the jury recently reached a decision on the charges against Diddy. They acquitted him of racketeering and sex trafficking charges that could have resulted in a life sentence if he had been convicted. What remained were the lesser charges of transportation to engage in prostitution, which many viewed as a legal victory for Diddy. However, a former federal prosecutor, Jennifer Beidel, has warned that despite the reduced severity of the charges, Judge Arun Subramanian may still "throw the book" at the rapper during sentencing. According to Beidel, Subramanian, referring to Diddy's propensity for violence while denying his request for a $1 million bail bond, hinted at this possibility. "He is saying he thinks that Diddy poses a danger to society," Beidel told the Daily Mail. She added, "In the bond hearing, both sides did a guidelines calculation, and the government's was higher. I think the judge is probably signaling that he's gonna be receptive to some of those additions to the guidelines range, and when the guidelines range goes up, the sentence usually goes up." For now, it remains unclear how many years could be added if Judge Subramanian chooses to throw the book at Diddy. However, what is known is that the prosecutors will seek a 20-year maximum sentence for the rapper. On the other hand, Diddy's lawyers have argued that, under federal sentencing guidelines, he should face about two years in prison. If that turns out to be the case, Diddy could be released in just over a year, as he has already spent nine months in jail since his arrest in September last year. In the meantime, with his bail bond denied, Diddy remains in jail until his sentencing. A sentencing date has been set for October 3, but it may be rescheduled for an earlier date during a hearing scheduled for next week. Beyond the possibility of facing a long sentence, Diddy also has to contend with the numerous civil suits he is embroiled in. Since his arrest in September, he has been hit with over 60 lawsuits from both men and women, including allegations of sexual assault, rape, and abuse. Some of his accusers have chosen to remain anonymous while filing their lawsuits, while others have been publicly named. Most recently, a male escort named Clayton Howard, who Diddy allegedly hired for "freak offs," filed a lawsuit against the rapper and his ex, Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura. In the recent lawsuit filed by Howard, he claimed Diddy and Cassie trafficked him for the purposes of commercial sex, which he described as "entertainment to satisfy their sexual fetishes and personal ambitions." Even worse, he alleged that he was drugged, manipulated, and traumatized by the duo, whom he described as being involved in a toxic and abusive relationship, as supported by reports from Diddy's trial. He also claimed to have suffered physical and psychological injury, lost wages and benefits, medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and mental anguish, as well as loss of enjoyment of life. Despite the barrage of civil lawsuits, the rapper is prepared to fight for his innocence in the coming days. His lawyer, Erica Wolff, stated in a press release following the verdict that Diddy "will not back down" and intends to fight all the civil cases to achieve his "full vindication," according to The New York Times. She also claimed that the jury's decision in the sex crimes trial is proof that the rapper is innocent of the allegations in his numerous civil suits. The outcome helped prove "what we have been saying about the civil cases since day one: they are all fabricated attempts to extort windfall payments from an innocent man," the attorney emphasized. "Mr. Combs never sexually assaulted or trafficked anyone," she added. "From the beginning, we have vigorously defended against the civil plaintiffs' made-up claims with full confidence that Mr. Combs would prevail in the criminal case, and he did."
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man accused of running Canada's largest grandparent scam network arrested
Gareth West, the alleged leader of a network of grandparent scammers accused of defrauding $30 million from American seniors, has been arrested in Quebec. Investigators allege he ran a lucrative and complex grandparent scam network that employed dozens of people out of multiple Montreal-area call centres.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lululemon Sues Costco Over ‘Dupes' of Pants and Jackets
Lululemon is taking Costco to task for allegedly knocking off its pants, hoodies and jackets and selling the dupes at a fraction of the price. Filed Friday in a United States District Court for the Central District of California, the Canadian athleticwear brand's lawsuit alleges that Costco perpetuated trade dress infringement and unfair competition by creating its own cheaper versions of popular Lululemon products like Scuba hoodies and sweatshirts, Define jackets and ABC pants, which range in price from $98 to $128. Some of Costco's nearly-identical versions of these products retail for less than $20. More from Sourcing Journal Shein Faces Copyright Infringement Complaint from Brandy Melville QVC and Cornerstone File FMC Complaint Against ONE for Alleged Failure to Fulfill Contract Material World: MycoWorks Melds Reishi and Danish Design in Nordic Light According to Lululemon, the brand's success has given way to the rise of knockoffs of its designs, a phenomenon that's become so widespread that there is a 'LululemonDupes' hashtag on TikTok wherein users share and promote copycat products. The infringing products create an improper association with the brand, with some shoppers believing they are authentic and others specifically purchasing them because they're tough to distinguish from authentic Lululemon merchandise. Lululemon asserted that Costco has been willful and complicit in perpetuating deceptive sales practices, writing in its complaint that it had already served Costco with a cease-and-desist letter to no avail. The similarities in the products have been well-documented in the media; the Washington Post published an article titled 'Is That Hoodie a Lululemon or a Costco Dupe? No One Has to Know But You, while the New York Times ran a piece featuring the headline, 'Are These $20 Costco Pants a Lululemon Dupe? We Investigated.' The athleisure label also asserted that Costco is known to use manufacturers of popular brands' products for its own Kirkland private label. The line, which has developed its own cult following, now accounts for over one-third of Costco's sales. Neither Costco nor its manufacturers disclose the connection between Kirkland products and the original branded products—a source of ambiguity that Lululemon said 'preconditions at least some consumers into believing that private label, KIRKLAND-branded dupes are in fact manufactured by the authentic supplier of the 'original' products.' In other words, Costco consumers may believe they are getting the same product they might buy at Lululemon, just unbranded. 'Defendant does not dispel this ambiguity'—and in fact, it benefits from it, the complaint said. Now, Lululemon is seeking an award of damages in the form of lost profits, or other damages adequate to compensate for the patent infringement. It is also seeking an order permanently preventing Costco and any of its associated businesses or vendors from manufacturing, importing, advertising, marketing or selling products that infringe upon its trade dresses. The company is demanding a trial by jury.
