The Canada Revenue Agency said Wednesday its online tax filing system was back up and running.
The federal government department said it has resolved the technical issues that prevented people from filing their 2006 tax returns.
"The CRA's processing systems are back online," commissioner Michel Dorais said in a statement on the agency's website. "All of our databases have been restored, our online services have been tested to our satisfaction, and our employees are processing the backlog of returns and payments.
"I would like to thank taxpayers for their patience and understanding during this unprecedented service outage," Dorais said.
Dorais had ordered the agency's 75 databases shut down March 5 after noticing "some irregularities" following software maintenance the previous weekend.
All online access to Efile, Netfile and the My Account feature was affected by the shutdown.
The CRA said the processing of returns — including the issuing of refunds — was delayed until the problem could be fixed. The processing delays also affected paper-based returns that were mailed.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that computer systems involved with the processing of tax returns for individuals are back online.

Tax processing had been halted on March 6, 2007, due to a computer glitch. The source of the problem had been traced back to software maintenance performed on March 4.

In an update on the CRA website, dated March 14, Michel Dorais, Commissioner of the Agency, stated that all of the databases had been restored and CRA employees are processing the backlog of returns and payments.

Tax processing for businesses had not been affected by the computer shutdown.

In his statement, Dorais thanked taxpayers "for their patience and understanding" during the service outage. He also stated that "the integrity and safety of personal data was never at risk".

The CRA suggests that it would work quickly to process the resulting backlog of tax returns.