Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) isn't working. Okay, they are working but not much else is. CRA has a messed up data base. The result is that individual tax payers can't file their taxes, even by paper. The following the the official notice posted on the CRA web site:

Online services - Update

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is experiencing electronic system difficulties that prevent the public from accessing some electronic services for personal returns such as NETFILE, TELEFILE and EFILE. We have temporarily shut down public access to electronic services to ensure the integrity of taxpayer information.

The CRA has a team working to restore its systems to normal operations but it will be a matter of days before the system problems are completely resolved. The security and integrity of taxpayer data has not been compromised. This problem is not the result of illegal activity, computer hackers or a virus.

We have now traced the source of the problem to software maintenance conducted on March 4, 2007. We are currently working to bring all systems back online gradually.

Facts for Taxpayers

Currently, you cannot file your personal return electronically by NETFILE, TELEFILE or EFILE. Until the problem is resolved, we cannot process returns filed on paper, or returns filed electronically before the system interruption. Refunds will be delayed until processing is resumed.
We expect that all benefit payments, including the March 20 Universal Child Care Benefit and Canada Child Tax Benefit and the April 5 Goods and Services Tax / Harmonized Sales Tax Credit, will be made on time and without interruption.
If you have already filed your income tax return electronically, the CRA will be able to determine whether the filing of your return was affected by this problem.
It is too soon to speculate on whether the filing deadline will be extended. The CRA fully expects to restore all services well in advance of the filing deadline.
Existing My Account users may still view their tax information, but are not able to process any transactions.
Electronic services for businesses, including My Business Account, are not directly impacted.. There are no problems with employer remittances of payroll deductions, Goods and Services Tax/ Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) remittances, or the Business Number registration system.
While the system problem affects the processing of many incoming payments, GST payments can still be processed. You can continue to make your payments as follows:
- In person at your financial institution.
- Online using your financial institution's Internet or telephone banking service.
- By sending your payment to the CRA by mail.

We will continue to provide updates as information becomes available. We appreciate your continuing patience while we resolve this matter.

In other words, nothing is working. There has been talk that the filing deadline might be extended but don't count on this. We advise you to get your taxes ready to file as soon as you can so that the filing can happened when the services are restored. Naturally, this means that you can't get your refund until the system is fixed.

There is no indication that any of the tax information is compromised. From information that we have been aware of for some time, we believe that this is a problem related to the 10 year program in place to migrate the CRA data base.

Here is a story posted on the CBC web site regarding the problem:

Tax department says online tax filing fix is a 'major' one

Last Updated: Wednesday, March 7, 2007 | 12:15 PM ET

CBC News

The Canada Revenue Agency says it now knows what caused the problems that led it to shut down its computer system for income tax filing, but warns it will still be days before it's fixed.

"Today is better than yesterday," CRA commissioner Michel Dorais told CBC News Wednesday. "We worked throughout the night and I'm pleased to say today that we've diagnosed the problem exactly."

Dorais said the problem began shortly after 20 maintenance operations were carried out on the weekend. On Monday, the tax department noticed "some irregularities" in its databases and quickly shut down all online access to Efile, Netfile and My Account. Dorais called it an infrastructure problem and said the data is completely secure.

"The databases are intact," he said. "It's not a virus. It's not an intrusion."

Dorais said the fix is a major one, involving 75 separate databases that handle individual returns. He said the databases are being gradually brought online but warned that the fix won't be immediate.

"We're hoping to solve the problem and to fix it fairly quickly," he said. But the databases that allow the e-filing of returns are "the biggest and most complex … so will be the last to come online."

So there you have it. Please come back to this page for further information. We will do our best to keep you up to date on the progress.