Discussions

My 14 year old daughter was paid what appears to be the CERB today, when she was expecting to get just regular EI benefits (this is what she applied for). She had $2,000 deposited to her account, which is much more than what she made when she was working. I told her to save this money for now and we submitted an online service request for more clarification. Anybody else with this issue?  
 
Edited by ABP, 2020-04-08 22:47:26

Lots of people I know have the same situation. Obviously the government just hope ot send out the money ASAP as the name of CERB means. Some even got EI and CERB at a time. So it's better to leave it there.

My 18 yr old applied for EI on March 17th ( was laid off on the 16th). She got the CERB amount today too. On the deposit line from where it came, on online banking it says EI.

For sure because it’s for ages 15 and over according to the requirements

Maybe it was a type-o. Maybe it wasn't. How does a 14 year old receive a CERB payment without applying? Did someone applied for it for a 14 year old? I'm a bit confused by the OP.  
 
Can you clarify please.

Anyone that applied for EI on or after March 15 automatically got switched over for the CERB. So if your 14 year old applied for EI on or after that date that would be why.  
 
Edited by Stormyskies, 2020-04-09 11:01:35

is 19 years old and has been employed since she was 13. She applied for EI after being laid off on March 17th.  
 
This week she got two flat fees deposited called "EI", one for $2000 and one for $1000.  
 
Neither makes sense for her EI claim amount so we assume she got the CERB to start with, as well as the $1000 the BC government is giving to everyone, and then EI will kick in once they have correctly processed her claim. We just warned her to budget carefully for now in case they come calling for it later (or at next years' tax time - that could be fun)  
 
Hubby applied for the CERB and got the normal $2000. He also got the enhanced GST amount deposited today. There is just so much to process, I just have not had ten minutes to go into their accounts on the CRA website to look for clarification.  
 
All this money at once is great, but it is scary because it has to be very carefully budgeted in this uncharted territory.

I am confused because teenagers do not make $2000 a month yet they qualified for EI or CERB? Yes, I do understand that they will get COVID payments because of lay off but will they have to pay back this back somehow as it is taxable?

Yeah seems a bit unfair that people who were making maybe $400 a paycheque as they were part time teenagers, are now receiving double their income at $2000 a month. The kids I work with are already buying gaming systems with it. Not like they have any bills to pay or rent to pay. They should’ve been placed on EI to properly calculate the proper amount instead of tax dollars paying for this, and yes about $500 of each $2000 will be owed back at tax time. So if you received four months of CERB you will owe approximately $2000 at tax time. This goes for everyone.

From my understanding is that anyone who applied for EI after March 15th was going to receive $2000 regardless of what they were normally to receive on EI. So regardless if it came through EI or CERB it was $2000 a month.  
 
So for those who get extra awesome! It is the governments way of streamlining the situation so it goes fast.  
 
As for those who received double payments or $1000 plus $2000 you were paid for 2 of the terms. Mid March to mid April then April to mid May. You won’t get your next payment until May so budget accordingly.

My teen still has bills to pay, including college, car, phone, etc.  
First thing she did with her pay she got yesterday and today was pay all her bills and put the rest in her tuition account for the fall term.  
She did everything right by applying for EI the minute she got laid off. This is on the government for choosing to do this, this way.  
 
My father however would make more money on EI (was laid off), than CERB. So he’s hoping they are calculating EI going forward and back paying the owing EI. He has paid into EI, so he should be able to use it properly. It’s going to take the government months and months to get this all figured out.

Anyone who applied for EI, and was approved, is, automatically enrolled in the CERB program. This support program will run for 4 months (16 weeks). After that, anyone who was approved for EI will revert back to that program and be paid in EI amounts for the remainder for their claim.  
 
The CERB program pays out monthly, and anyone receiving CERB payments needs to "reapply" or "check in" with current employment details EACH MONTH in order to receive payment for that month.

Theoretically - because it is taxable at year end. However, if that same person still makes under the basic deduction amounts for the year then they will not pay taxes at all.  
 
I guess it is OK, because if they are spending it, the economy will theoretically keep moving forward, but short sighted because the people who really need it may not get as much as they need.  
 
One positive I hope comes from all of this - I hope it once and for all destroys the underground economy. There are far too many people screwing the system in taking cash or under the table payments, and now its going to come back to bite them as they will not be able to get help from the government to keep their bills paid.  
 
However, those of us who have played by the rules may end up getting screwed too if said cash payments were ensuring we got paid promptly - whether we knew it was under the table or not. (We just found out we have a situation that fits that bill and we do not know how to deal with it). The next few months are going to be stressful.

Got two payments today? You're not alone:  
 
https://globalnews.ca/news/6793526/coronavirus-canada-cerb-double-payments/

My 14 year-old has been paying into EI and should have qualified for regular benefits. She applied the way she was supposed to. I suppose she must have just automatically been placed into the CERB plan. I just wonder, given she is not 15, if she will be told to pay back the difference between what she was paid and what she would have been paid with regular EI.  
I agree the $2,000/month benefit seems a bit much for kids working part-time.

Can person collect both at the same time? I am confused , some ppl say they are getting both, some just one & some neither...... so confused!

I have been in contact with Larry McGuire our local MP, and he has been in contact with CRA. In some instances yes, there was payment from March 15 through end of April which may have resulted in two payments. HOWEVER, if people received 3 payments like my daughter, $1000, $2000, $2000, then there WAS and overpayment and CRA will be requesting it back. This will be verified for sure early next week by his office and they will be in contact with myself to confirm how to proceed. I was advised to NOT send the money back through your regular online payment system to the CRA, and is was suggested paying it directly at a bank or mailing in a cheque so as not to get lost in the very confused CERB system, but to hold off until this is confirmed early next week. Either way I wouldn’t be counting on spending any of the overpayment just yet. And remember, this money is ALL taxable so everyone should be banking at least 25% of everything they receive until next tax season, otherwise many will be owing $2500-$3500 at tax time. I will post again once it is confirmed early next week, and yes I know the news has been telling everyone there is no mistake but once again when these top government officials contacted the CRA they confirmed YES, there had been overpayments issued.

No I read you cannot get both.