CRA tax refund not received? Check the return, assessment and payment

Find which stage your return has reached

Sign in from a CRA address you opened yourself, then look at the return’s progress and any notice of assessment or reassessment. Keep the tax year in view; an older refund or notice can easily be mistaken for the return you just filed. Record the date and wording you see without sharing your sign-in details or tax documents with Romii.

Read the current notice for the refund amount, if any, rather than relying on a filing-software estimate. CRA may apply some or all of a refund to amounts owing or certain other debts, as its refund page explains. If the assessed amount differs from what you expected, the notice is the starting record for understanding why; this article cannot determine whether an assessment or offset is correct.

If CRA has not finished processing

Check whether CRA is requesting information or reviewing the return, and use the instructions attached to your own account notice. Processing depends on the filing method and whether CRA needs to review information. Avoid counting from a generic “refund in two weeks” claim: that is not a guarantee for your return.

CRA’s refund page tells Canadian residents to wait 12 weeks before contacting CRA about refund status, and people outside Canada to wait 16 weeks. Those are inquiry thresholds, not promises that a refund will be processed or paid by those dates. Use the current CRA page when you need the contact route, and follow any specific instruction CRA has given for your return. If you need account access help, use CRA’s official sign-in support rather than sharing credentials with someone offering to “check” the refund for you.

If CRA says a refund was issued

Compare the issue date and amount in your CRA record with the bank account you expect to receive it, or with your mail if you receive a cheque. “Issued” is CRA’s record of a payment step. Your bank statement or delivered cheque is the separate receipt check. Note a possible mismatch precisely: which tax year, CRA issue date, amount and destination you checked.

If you recently changed banks, review the direct-deposit setting in your CRA account. CRA’s direct-deposit instructions currently allow online changes in the Individual account or through a supported Canadian bank or credit union. If you cannot use an online method, that page also provides a form to mail; telephone changes are no longer supported. A newly saved setting does not prove a payment already issued was redirected. CRA advises keeping the old account open until the first payment reaches the new one. If CRA shows a payment to the wrong account or returned to CRA, its direct-deposit page says to call once 10 business days have passed since the payment date. For that mismatch, use CRA’s official contact route after the stated threshold and have the tax year and payment details you recorded ready.

Keep your next action tied to the missing step

• Only a filing record: check CRA’s return tracker and any request for information.
• Assessed, but no expected refund: read the notice and CRA’s stated amount or application to another balance before looking for a deposit.
• Refund shown as issued, but no receipt: verify the destination and date, then use CRA’s official refund contact instructions with the mismatch details.

These branches keep a payment problem separate from a return-processing or assessment question. They also let you ask CRA a concrete question without guessing a payment date or entering bank information into an unrelated service.

Sources & further reading

• Canada Revenue Agency — Tax refunds
• Canada Revenue Agency — Direct deposit for individuals