TORONTO — The Association of Canadian Independent Travel Advisors (ACITA) is sounding the alarm on behalf of independent travel advisors (ITAs) currently under investigation by the Canada Revenue Agency.

In April 2023 ACITA got word that the CRA had sent notification to investigate eligibility criteria for both the CERB ($14,000) and CRB ($24,000) to a handful of ITAs.

“We were hopeful that the appeals process would be swift and would be found in favour of the ITAs contacted. Since then, we have been monitoring the situation closely,” says the ACITA team.

ACITA also posted a call-out in its private social media group, asking for agents who had been contacted, to help ACITA keep better track how many ITAs have been impacted.

Says ACITA: “Within the last couple of weeks several more ITAs are now in a position where appeals have been denied, and they now require a lawyer to get them through the judicial review process.”

ACITA met with its contacts within the government last week. “They clearly understand our business model, how we are paid, and why we qualified for both programs. They are talking to both the tax department and the Ministry of Finance on our behalf to determine our next steps,” says the team.

“From what we understand, the issue seems to be that the interpretation of the rules differs from each case reviewer within the CRA, and they may not be taking into consideration that we were the hardest hit within our own industry. The biggest contributor seems to be income from more than one source and/or the $5,000 net vs. gross issue we encountered for the CERB.”

ACITA adds: “One thing we know for sure is that notification of the recalls is ONLY being received via each person’s individual CRA account. They are NOT sending anything via mail to notify if there is an issue.”

ACITA is urging all ITAs to login to their CRA accounts to see if there is notification of repayment, and let ACITA know as soon as possible, by email at acitacanada@gmail.com.