Experts are warning recipients of possible conflicts when receiving the new CERB package such as paying taxes on payments or receiving both CERB and EI at the same time.

On March 25th, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was announced by the Government of Canada with the intention of supporting workers and businesses during this current pandemic.

On April 6th, the federal government started accepting applications. In order to qualify recipients initially were only those who lost all of their sources of income, but the program was later expanded to include workers making up to $1,000 per month.

H&R Block is explaining that the CERB payment is available to Canadians whose income has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. CERB is a $2,000 payment, every four weeks, up to 16 weeks and a maximum total of $8,000 to support Canadians without income. 

There is no waiting period, for payments, meaning an eligible Canadian will receive a payment within ten days of applying. Some Canadians are now receiving their second payment, according to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

An H&R spokesperson says that in order to be eligible, a Canadian must have lost their income due to COVID-19, or can not earn an income because they are sick or quarantined. Seasonal workers, Canadians who have recently exhausted their Employment Insurance (EI) benefits, those caring for someone with COVID-19, or those who have had to stop working in order to care for children who are either sick or home from school and daycare are also eligible.

Canadians are not eligible for CERB if they quit their job for reasons unrelated to COVID-19.

CERB is fully taxable, similar, to EI benefits. H&R Block is warning that no tax is withheld at source, meaning some Canadian may owe some tax during next year's tax season. How much owed will depend on a person's tax bracket and how much tax was withheld from other sources of income.

Taxpayers who are receiving the benefit now may not be eligible and should be prepared to pay it back at some time in the future, most likely next tax season.

Some Canadians are discovering that they are making more money off CERB than their previous job.  H&R block states that all eligible Canadians receive the flat $2,000 even though they may have earned less in the previous job.

EI benefits and CERB cannot be combined during the same period. An H&R Block spokesperson states if someone became eligible for EI regular or sickness benefits before March 15th, they will receive EI instead of CERB.

More information can be found on the Government of Canada's website.