Where Is My Refund and Who Does CRA Share it With? Part 2

Taxpayers and their advisors may consider this question more frequently as CRA pushes for more electronic communications, such as the provision of email addresses on this year’s tax return.

In the second part of this article, we will look at the full list outlining how and for what purposes your tax information can be shared.

The publication CRA PPU 005 is enlightening.  For example, did you know that information pertaining to taxpayer indebtedness can be shared with debtors and the courts, or with CRA should you seek employment with them; the latter with consent?  Here’s the full list outlining how and for what purposes your tax information can be shared:

• Statistics Canada
  • For Longitudinal Administrative Data STC PPU 112, and Longitudinal Immigration Database STC PPU 135,
• Department of Justice Canada
  • For Civil Proceedings and Legal Services JUS PPU 010
  • Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance - JUS PPU 125 and
  • Garnishment Registry - JUS PPU 150,
• Public Prosecution Service of Canada
  • For Prosecutions and Prosecution-related Activities PPSC PPU 002,
• Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
  • For Canada Disability Savings Program HRSDC PPU 038
  • Universal Child Care Benefit HRSDC PPU 102
  • Registration for the Employment Insurance Measure for Self-Employed People HRSDC PPU 323 and
  • Canada Pension Plan - Retirement, Disability, Survivors and Death Benefits (Individual) HRSDC PPU 146
  • Public Works and Government Services Canada (Receiver General Payments PWGSC PCU 712). 
• Provincial and territorial governments (or parts thereof) in accordance with signed information sharing agreements.
• Internal CRA Programs:
  • Business Returns and Payment Processing (CRA PPU 047),
  • GST/HST Credit (CRA PPU 140),
  • Taxpayer Relief Program (CRA PPU 155),
  • Trust Accounts Examinations GST/HST (CRA PPU 120),
  • Detection and Investigations (CRA PPU 095),
  • Tax Avoidance Cases (CRA PPU 035),
  • Voluntary Disclosures (CRA PPU 220),
  • Individual (T1) Tax Arrears - Collection Action (CRA PPU 050), and
  • Competent Authority Program Administration (CRA PPU 085)
  • For authentication and registration purposes for electronic services.
• Where applicable, information pertaining to an individual’s indebtedness may be shared with the tax filer’s debtors and the courts to facilitate attachment.
• With consent, information may also be used for personnel security screening purposes for employment with the Canada Revenue Agency.
• Information may also be used or disclosed for the evaluation and supervision of CRA officials in the administration of their duties under the relevant Acts (e.g. audit trails), program evaluation (quality assurance and data integrity), compliance and enforcement risk management, strategy development, and reporting and for survey or other statistical analysis purposes.

According to InfoSource, these records are stored for up to seven year at a private-sector contractor records storage facility, depending on the type of information, and then are transferred to Library and Archives Canada as archival records.

Will taxpayers have the right tax information if they fail to check their emails and “My Account”?  Will they be taken by surprise when communications from the above sharing stakeholders arrive?  Will they understand that their refunds may have gone to one of those stakeholders instead of their bank?

Evelyn Jacks is President of Knowledge Bureau, a national educational institute focused on providing knowledge and skills required to navigate a rapidly changing environment in the tax and financial services.