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Remission

How to make a request

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Debt payment

You are generally expected to pay your debt in full. However, in extraordinary circumstances, you may be able to request a remission review.

If you are requesting a remission review based on extreme financial hardship, you must first make appropriate attempts to pay your debt before making your request. If you have recently been assessed an amount and have not tried to pay it, a request for a remission review is not likely to be considered before you try to pay the debt. For example, a remission review would be premature if you were recently asked to repay COVID-19 benefits but you have not taken any steps to pay the amount(s). In such cases, you are encouraged to first work with the CRA to find appropriate ways to pay your debt, such as entering into a payment arrangement.

Information on ways to pay a debt is available at When you owe money – collections at the CRA.

Requesting a remission review generally does not stop collection actions. In addition, interest will continue to accrue on outstanding amount(s).

Pursue all other options before requesting a remission review

Remission is a rare and extraordinary measure. As such, we don’t consider all requests for review.

Generally, you must pursue all other options available at the CRA, or under legislation the CRA administers, to address the amount(s) before requesting remission. In most cases, there are other ways we can help you resolve the issue. For example, you may be able to:

Requesting a remission review

Before you can request a remission review, check if all of these circumstances apply to the issue that your request is about:

You need to meet all of the above circumstances to request a remission review. For more information about the circumstances that may be considered, see When to request a remission review. If your circumstances are not likely to be considered for review, there may be other ways we can help you resolve your issue. See Pursue all other options before requesting a remission review.

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