The Canadian Emergency Response Benefit is entitled to those who are impacted by the COVID-19.
You are eligible for this program only if you have lost your job directly due to Covid-19.
You’re CERB payment is taxable income. An easy example would be – If you had accepted any payment of $2,000 and had made $30,000 that year, it will now show as $32,000 for your gross earnings for this coming tax year. It is calculated: Your gross earnings + any amount taken from the CERB.
According to the Canadian Government, your income will determine how much you will have to owe back come April 2021.
You will have to owe part or all of it back. CERB payments aren’t considered ‘free’ money. It’s more like “We’ll give you extra money to sustain yourself and/or your family during this crisis, but we need some or all of it back at the end of tax season, April 2021.
Canadians who were already receiving EI will continue to do so and need not apply to the CERB, but can switch to the program if their EI benefits end before October 2020 if they remain jobless due to Covid-19.
Those whose EI benefits have run out since the start of the calendar year will qualify for CERB, as will seasonal workers who have exhausted their regular EI benefits and whose seasonal work has been disrupted by the outbreak.
Canadians who are making up to $1,000 a month, employed or self-employed, will also be able to qualify. If they had made approximately $12,000 or less this last tax season, you will not be required to owe anything back. In any case, you still have to submit the required documentation.
You don’t qualify for the CERB if you have quit your job.
Those who have applied for EI during this pandemic will have their waiting period waived, you can check on the status of your application through your ‘My Service Canada Account’. (MSCA)
If you apply for EI during this pandemic, you will automatically be entered into CERB.