- Adhere to efile responsibilities – I must deal directly with client, and validate their identity.
- Validate your client’s identity (March 4, 2025)
Validating your client’s identity, especially for new clients, before any transaction or release of information, whether that interaction is in person, by phone, or online, is one of the many ways to mitigate potential fraud.
This helps prevent unintended consequences, such as the release of information to unauthorized users or funds to malicious groups or individuals. Completing full validations on older clients is also recommended, as threat actors can be patient when planning more complex schemes. Below are a few ways that you can validate the identity of your clients.
Ways to validate your client’s identity
In person
Telephone
Online
Authentic, valid, and current Government-issued photo identification
Appropriately complex confidentiality questions about information on file or account
Real-time credit file check to compare the information contained in the report with that provided by the client
Confidentiality questions about information on file or account
Multi-factor authentication
Personal Identification Number system for clients
Video call, if applicable, to validate authentic, valid, and current Government-issued photo identification
Document validation software
Multi-factor authentication
Availability of Tax Slips in My Account, Represent a Client and Auto-fill my return
The CRA has granted relief in respect of late-filing penalties for information returns, such as the T3 (trust income), T4 (remuneration paid), T4A (pension and other income) and T5 (investment income). As a result, certain information returns (tax slips) may not be available in My Account, Represent a Client or the Auto-fill my return service at the time of your request.
Penalty relief period until March 7:
- All information returns.
Penalty relief period until March 17:
- Certain information returns which need to be recalculated as a result of the change to the effective date of the proposed capital gains inclusion rate increase – primarily certain T5008 and certain T5 slips.
Penalty relief period until May 1: Certain T3 information returns which need to be recalculated as a result of the change to the effective date of the proposed capital gains inclusion rate increase
Bare trusts are not required to file for the 2024 tax year
As announced on October 29, 2024, bare trusts are not required to file a T3 return and Schedule 15 for the 2023 and 2024 tax years, unless the CRA makes a direct request for these filings.
Beginning July 15, 2025, you will need to use Represent a Client to obtain access to an Individual’s account.
Beginning March 24, 2025, The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will no longer accept direct deposit updates or changes submitted via EFILE
If you submit a return with direct deposit information, it will be returned back with an error message that says the direct deposit information must be deleted before the return can be resubmitted and accepted by the CRA.
Taxpayers will be able to register for direct deposit using either My Account online, through a Canadian bank or credit union, or by completing a direct deposit enrolment form (paper).
You may now EFILE returns reporting capital dispositions (April 2, 2025)
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been working diligently to ensure that its systems reflect the current capital gains inclusion rate of one-half. The CRA has restored the forms to the current rate and they have been published on Canada.ca. This applies to individuals that are reporting any capital disposition on Schedule 3 of the T1 income tax and benefit return for the 2024 tax year as well as trusts reporting a capital disposition on Schedule 1 of their T3 trust income tax and information return for the 2024 tax year. Changes to CRA’s systems and the corresponding certification of tax software have also been finalized for the reporting of capital dispositions therefore impacted returns can now be processed
Update on the availability of tax slips in Auto-fill my return and CRA portals (April 3, 2025)
Beginning in January 2025, the CRA introduced a new validation process for organizations that submit information returns (like financial institutions and employers) to ensure the accuracy of the data they submit. While this change improves data quality, some issuers have had difficulties uploading tax slips, resulting in certain slips not appearing in My Account, Represent a Client, or the Auto-fill my return service as early as in previous years.
It should be noted that the difficulties experienced by issuers are separate and apart from their obligation to distribute slips to recipients by the filing deadline. As a result, we expect most taxpayers to have already received a copy of the slips they need to complete their tax returns. If you do not see a client’s tax slip in Represent a Client or when using Auto-fill my return, we recommend using the slips provided by their issuer (e.g., their financial institution or employer).
Online mail for business
Starting May 12, 2025, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will transition to online mail as the default method of delivering most business correspondence. This means you’ll start receiving most of your business notices and other correspondence through the My Business Account portal in your CRA account, instead of in the mail.
This change applies to all of the following businesses:
- All new business number and CRA program account registrations
- All existing businesses already registered for My Business Account
- All businesses who have given online access to a representative to access these services on their behalf via Represent a Client
And thus – I spend more time reading these changes than doing work.
You can get more information on all of the above from the CRA Website.
