The audit was requested after more than 800,000 ineligible people obtained the CERB

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A Conservative lawmaker says the Canadian Revenue Agency has some explanations after more than 800,000 ineligible people have received emergency response checks in Canada.

CRA documents – presented in a ministry investigation filed with the House of Commons – show that 823,850 people who have not filed a tax return in the past year have received $ 2,000 monthly CERB checks at a taxpayer cost of nearly $ 1.7 billion, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“I find it remarkable,” Conservative Congressman Kelly McCauley said.

“This is a huge amount. People were losing their homes and really needed help, but the requests had been made by others who were either unsuitable or didn’t really need it. I want the government to carry out proper and transparent verification of this. We owe it only to the taxpayers “.

The federal government has approved paying CERB to unemployed tax registrants who earned at least $ 5,000 in 2019.

The CRA did not explain how the non-tax applicants could have claimed the benefit.

The CERB program was initially budgeted at $ 24 billion, but when it expired on October 3, payments exceeded $ 81 billion.

More than 14,000 people at the top income tax bracket – earning $ 210,371 or more in 2019 – have applied for CERB, claiming to be without income.