EFILE Association of Canada
Formed in 1993, the EAC/ATC is a federally registered non-profit corporation, representing tax practitioners from all regions of Canada to senior management of the Canada Revenue Agency, Federal and Provincial Ministries of Revenue, as well as tax software providers.
Our membership consists of professionals and fully represents the Efile industry: from sole proprietors to large nationwide firms. EAC/ATC members account for over one-third of all EFILED T1s in Canada.
What we do
One of the core functions of the EAC/ATC is to communicate directly with senior management of the CRA on behalf of members. As your conduit to the CRA, we meet regularly with senior managers of the CRA to discuss tax policy and administrative issues that affect all tax practitioners.
Over the years, the EAC/ATC has been successful in requesting changes to the EFILE system to facilitate the operation of a tax practice. Tax practitioners are the front line administrators of Canadian tax policy, and we are recognized as the professional association that senior management of the CRA turns to for industry comment and feedback.
We also produce and distribute our IMPACT Newsletter (published 3 times a year), providing important updates on developments within the tax and EFile service industry. View a sample IMPACT Newsletter in the Library section of our website. Previous editions of the IMPACT Newsletter are archived in the Library section and are available to EAC/ATC members. Members also receive a copy of the annual EFiler’s Resource Guide.
The EAC/ATC is governed by a national 15 member Board of Directors elected by the membership of the EAC/ATC at the Annual General Meeting. Members of the Board of Directors serve renewable 3-year terms.
News
More EAC Success:
Changes to the mandatory E-NOA initiative abandoned (updated Sept 2023)
Kudos to the EFile Association of Canada.
The 2021 Federal Budget proposed to amend the Income Tax Act to provide the CRA with the ability to send notices of assessment electronically (E-NOA) without the taxpayer having to authorize the CRA to do so. This proposal would apply to all individuals who file their income tax return electronically. Taxpayers who file income tax returns with the CRA in paper format would continue to receive a paper version of the notice of assessment directly from the CRA.
This new process would impact tax preparers directly as many would need to print the NOA or E-NOA for their clients if they could not access the NOA through the My Account portal. It was presumed by the CRA that tax preparers would assist their clients in setting up My Account for them (during the busy tax season no less). This new process was expected to be in force by May 2023.
We are very happy to report that after many meetings on this issue with the CRA, the implementation of this mandatory initiative has been abandoned. The use of E-NOAs for individual returns is now on a voluntary basis.
CRA to remove unhelpful guidance from Assisted Compliance Initiative letters (July 2023)
Kudos to the CRA Ombudsman.
Earlier this year, the CRA launched the Assisted Compliance Initiative (ACI) in an effort to “provide Canadians with the support and information they need to understand and fulfill their tax obligations”. The initiative is touted as an education-first approach, an “evolution of taxpayer education activities that engages taxpayers with tailored information and individual support in order to help them become compliant”.
All good except that CRA documentation and even its website was directing taxpayers to contact a CRA official before speaking with their tax preparer. This is simply unhelpful advice.
We are happy to report that the CRA has removed the guidance from its website directing taxpayers to contact a CRA official before speaking with their tax advisor when the CRA reaches out regarding a compliance issue.
The agency made the move after receiving a service improvement request from the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson François Boileau, asking the agency to update its processes and content to ensure it respects the taxpayer’s “right to be represented by a person of their choice,” which is included in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
Under the assisted compliance program, the CRA sends letters to businesses and self-employed individuals to highlight potential compliance issues, followed up by a call two weeks later from a CRA officer “to help taxpayers better understand their tax obligations, and provide information on the steps to self-correct the tax issue.”
Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) – Eight hour passcode duration continues
Kudos to the EFile Association of Canada.
As you are undoubtedly aware, MFA now applies to all Representatives.
In brief, the system requires that you obtain a passcode every time you log in to the RAC portal, in addition to signing in with your username and password. This means you could receive a new passcode multiple times a day from the CRA (6-digit numeric code via SMS text), one for every time you log back into the system.
Alternatively, you will need to refer to the Passcode Grid card to enter your passcode (9-digit alphabetic code). Using the Passcode Grid means that you will not be required to receive a text; it is an alternative method.
When we first discussed the MFA system with the CRA (in January 2020) one of our suggestions to the CRA was that they modify the passcode process so that the first access code you receive to start your workday remains valid for a longer period of time and for unlimited logins to the system during that time period.
We are happy to report that CRA will be implementing our suggestion effective in February 2022 – the MFA passcodes issued at the start of a day remain in effect for 8 hours (you will no longer need to request a new passcode simply because you have logged out of the system).