Last updated: January 21 2015

Sorting the Mail from CRA

With the introduction of online mail for both preparers and clients, sorting out who will get what when can be quite confusing.

Notices of Assessments

CRA’s goal is to eliminate snail mail and convert to electronic mail as quickly as possible.  A reasonable objective as this both saves both the cost of delivering the messages and reduces use of paper.  This year, taxpayers will have the opportunity to voluntarily opt-in and get their Notice of Assessment by online mail if they have a balance due or they have a refund and have direct deposit set up.  Taxpayers who have a refund and have not set up direct deposit will still have to receive a cheque by snail mail.  (These rules do not apply, of course, if the return is discounted.)

Other Communications

If the preparer has asked to have pre- and post-assessment communications sent to them, other notices will be sent either via Represent a Client if the preparer has signed up to receive notification electronically using the “Manage Online Mail” function or via snail mail if they have not.

If the preparer has not asked for pre- and post-assessment communication to be sent to them (or if they fail to respond to the notices they receive), these notices will go to the taxpayer via online mail if their email address has been supplied on the T1 or T183.  If no email address has been supplied, the notices will go to the client via snail mail.

Lost Communications – Who’s Responsible

Probably the biggest danger in this process will occur when communication directed to the client is never read because the email address provided is or becomes invalid.  CRA’s position is that the communications is deemed to have been sent when the message is sent to the client’s email address -  regardless of whether that communication is ever received.

Electronic communications also opens up further potential for breaches in security and privacy concerns.