The Canada Revenue Agency has released a tool that helps Canadians determine if they have any unclaimed from the CRA. According to the CRA, from 1998 to May 2019, approximately $1 billion in cheques have gone uncashed. These 7.6 million cheques belong to roughly 5 million Canadians.
Using this tool, which can be found in the My Account portal on the CRA website, you can collect any CRA cheques you didn’t cash dating back as long as you have been filing taxes. Check it out to see if you have some money coming your way!
Find out the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction.
Why do Some People Have Unclaimed Cheques?
The CRA issues payments for refunds and benefits usually by direct deposit, but sometimes by cheque or other methods. Cheques can get lost, or they don’t reach the individual because they have changed their address. A cheque’s payee must request that the CRA void the original cheque and reissue a new one because government cheques never expire or stale-date. The payee can’t do that if they didn’t know about the cheque in the first place.
Are unclaimed cheques real? Beware of scammers posing as the CRA.
How to Find Out if You Have Unclaimed Cheques
Fortunately, the CRA makes it easy for Canadian taxpayers to find out if they have any unclaimed cheques.
- First, you’ll need to open a CRA My Account, if you don’t already have one. You can do this on the CRA website.
- Once you open your account, log in and go to the My Account page. Scroll down to the “Related Services” tab, found on the right-hand side of your browser, and you’ll see an “Uncashed cheques” option. You can see if you have any uncashed cheques there.
How do You Claim Unclaimed Cheques?
If you do have any uncashed cheques, you can claim them in the “Uncashed cheques” section. Ask for a duplicate payment by selecting and completing the displayed 535 form. Then send the form using the “submit documents online” feature in My Account or mail the form to the Sudbury Tax Centre.
Sudbury Tax Centre
Post Office Box 20000, Station A
Sudbury ON P3A 5C2
If you are mailing the form to the Sudbury Tax Centre, you must print it and sign it as the payee. You must also ask a witness to sign it, who cannot be a family member, and include your name and address as well as the name and address of your witness. Send one form for each uncashed cheque.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my unclaimed cheques expire?
What if I’ve lost my CRA cheque?
How can I ensure I don’t miss a CRA payment?
Bottom Line
Using the “Uncashed cheques” tool in your My Account portal on the CRA website, you can see if you’re one of the 5 million Canadians who have unclaimed cheques from the CRA. Maybe you have thousands of dollars waiting for you that you didn’t know about!
