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CERB and Jan 2020 students

pkapoor

Hero Member
Dec 11, 2019
253
19
Hi. I came in january 2020 but have been able to earn 5000$ in three months including 3500$ of referral commission which is considered to be self-employed. I am laid-off from my part-time job at McDonald’s. Can i apply for CERB ? Please reply fast.
Thanks in advance.
 

bongoman

VIP Member
Dec 3, 2014
4,176
811
You look elligable, you need to have been laid off due to covid but right now anyone who applies gets it, checks will be done latter and you might be asked to pay it back probably during next tax filling if they find you didnt qualify.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,959
12,759
Hi. I came in january 2020 but have been able to earn 5000$ in three months including 3500$ of referral commission which is considered to be self-employed. I am laid-off from my part-time job at McDonald’s. Can i apply for CERB ? Please reply fast.
Thanks in advance.
Where is this referral commission from? If you only worked at MacDonalds part-time and in no other industry this certainly stands out since this is a large portion of the income you are claiming and certainly may trigger CRA to ask for proof of where the income is coming from. The fact that you seem to be at around 5k is another red flag. Assume you are slightly over. I assume have all the various documents proving how you made this income and documentation for income reporting.
 

pkapoor

Hero Member
Dec 11, 2019
253
19
Where is this referral commission from? If you only worked at MacDonalds part-time and in no other industry this certainly stands out since this is a large portion of the income you are claiming and certainly may trigger CRA to ask for proof of where the income is coming from. The fact that you seem to be at around 5k is another red flag. Assume you are slightly over. I assume have all the various documents proving how you made this income and documentation for income reporting.
I got referral commission from an immigration consultant for referring clients. I have invoices with me and my net income stands near 6k.
 

At the start

Hero Member
Feb 2, 2018
307
79
I came here in Canada in 29 December 2019 and have not applied for tax return. I was working in company back in India and earned more than 5000$. Should I apply for CERB as I am laod off the job currently?

Please guide me for this

Thanks
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,959
12,759
I got referral commission from an immigration consultant for referring clients. I have invoices with me and my net income stands near 6k.
3.5k for immigration referrals, how many people have you referred? Have the immigration consultant been declaring these referral payments on their taxes? Not sure if you can count payments without any tax/deduction since most aren’t. How much above 5k? The McDonald’s income is fine.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,959
12,759
I came here in Canada in 29 December 2019 and have not applied for tax return. I was working in company back in India and earned more than 5000$. Should I apply for CERB as I am laod off the job currently?

Please guide me for this

Thanks
You don’t qualify. You have not lost your job due to covid.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,959
12,759
Can someone just apply for it even though they don't qualify and expect to pay it back afterwards? Would there be any long term consequences for that?
They haven’t announced whether there will be consequences. Hopefully there will be. If you don’t return the money right away I assume there also may interest. It is still benefit fraud if you know you don’t qualify and you apply. CRA is not what you really want to mess with.
 

Impatient Dankaroo

VIP Member
Jan 10, 2020
4,377
2,661
They haven’t announced whether there will be consequences. Hopefully there will be. If you don’t return the money right away I assume there also may interest. It is still benefit fraud if you know you don’t qualify and you apply. CRA is not what you really want to mess with.
Right but plausible deniability. Would it affect PR applications given its such a one-off situation?
 

canuck_in_uk

VIP Member
May 4, 2012
31,558
7,195
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
06/12
3.5k for immigration referrals, how many people have you referred? Have the immigration consultant been declaring these referral payments on their taxes? Not sure if you can count payments without any tax/deduction since most aren’t. How much above 5k? The McDonald’s income is fine.
It doesn't matter for OP's situation whether the consultant claimed the referral expense or not. I'm not sure what you mean about payments without tax/deductions not counting; it's still income, so it certainly counts.
 

canuck_in_uk

VIP Member
May 4, 2012
31,558
7,195
Visa Office......
London
App. Filed.......
06/12
Can someone just apply for it even though they don't qualify and expect to pay it back afterwards? Would there be any long term consequences for that?
Right but plausible deniability. Would it affect PR applications given its such a one-off situation?
They will have to pay it back, plus interest, so it will end up costing them money in the end. Given the threshold needed to prove fraud in claiming the benefit, it can be expected that there will not be any action taken against those who claimed the benefit without qualifying.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
52,959
12,759
Right but plausible deniability. Would it affect PR applications given its such a one-off situation?
Sure there will be some sort of organized benefit fraud and those may be the ones prosecuted. Interest payments if you received the benefits incorrectly should be a good enough reason for most not to take the money. So much wrong with both CERB and the immigration system if immigration consultants are giving out 3.5k in finders fees which is essentially going to lead to someone qualifying for 8k.
 
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