Essentials for volunteers
1. Preparing the Income Tax and Benefit Return
Autofill My Return (AFR): This function within the UFile software can be used to download information, including T slips, directly from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) database for 2017 to 2024 returns. A volunteer must have applied for and received their own EFILE number to do this. (Here’s why we think every volunteer should know how to use AFR.)
Represent A Client: This CRA portal can be used to access the client’s CRA account to get the T slip information for the preparation of the 2014 to 2016 returns. (At the same time a volunteer receives their own EFILE number, they should also receive a RepID number.) To access the client’s CRA account, the volunteer must first file a federal authorization request for the client using the 2023 UFile software. (Here’s why we think volunteers may wish to learn how to use this.)
EFILE: Volunteers with EFILE numbers can EFILE returns from 2017 onwards. Returns prior to 2017 must be printed out on paper, signed by the client and mailed in.
Indicator of uncashed cheques: This new feature appears on the client’s page in the CRA database, together with the T slip information, when the volunteer uses AFR to download the client information to prepare their return. If it says “Yes”, this means that the CRA has uncashed cheques for the client. To get forms which request the cheques to be reissued, the volunteer must use the “Represent A Client” portal to access the client’s account. Once on the Overview page, the volunteer should look on the right, lower side of the screen and click on the link to “Uncashed Cheques”. And once on the “Uncashed Cheques” page, the volunteer can download and print up the individual forms for each uncashed cheque. These must be completed accurately by the client and then mailed into the CRA.
First time filers’ middle name: This new feature has been added to the 2023 UFile software. When the volunteer indicates that this is the first time the client is filing a return, a box automatically appears that asks for the middle name of the client. Note that it is essential to fill in this box accurately. (This is not necessary before filing the federal authorization request to use the AFR function.) If this has not been done, when the volunteer tries to EFILE the return, they will receive a “Rejected” message indicating that the middle name is not the same as the one in the CRA records which come from Service Canada. Clients (and, in particular, newcomers to Canada) should show the Service Canada document with their social insurance number (SIN) as this document will include the middle name which is to be used when EFILing. (Note that for clients who have never filed a return before but who arrived in Canada in 2022 or earlier, the volunteer may wish to EFILE their returns for 2022 or earlier first. This will avoid the problem of needing to provide the correct middle name in the 2023 UFile software because the volunteer can then rightly say the client is not a first-time filer.)
Advance on Canada Workers Benefit: If the client had employment income in 2023 and were eligible to receive an advance on their Canada Workers Benefit, the volunteer must include the information on the advance, which is issued as an RC210 slip, in the client’s 2023 return. (The RC210 slip information can be downloaded, together with T slips, when using the AFR function.) This benefit is not taxable. But it is used to determine how much of the Canada Workers Benefit is still owing to the client; if there is money still owed, it will be included as part of the refund.
ReFILE: This function allows the volunteer to prepare a correction (suing the form T1ADJ) to a return which has already been filed. Prior to 2023, volunteers could use the UFile software to fill out the T1ADJ, but then it had to be printed up and mailed in by the client. Starting with the 2023 UFile software, volunteers can prepare the T1ADJ and file it in electronically using the Refile function.
2. Benefits
For those provinces and territories where the Climate Action Incentive is paid out, it has changed its name to the Canada Carbon Rebate.
The federal government altered the way the Canada Workers Benefit is paid out this year. Instead of the client receiving 100% of the benefit during the refund process, the client received advances in 2023 totalling 50% of what they would be entitled to receive if they had the same employment income in 2023 as in 2022. (In other words, the advance is equal to half of the Canada Workers Benefit they received in the 2022 refund process.) In preparing the 2023 return, the RC210 information (see above) in combination with the client’s 2023 employment income is used to determine how much of the client’s 2023 Canada Workers Benefit payment is still to be paid. In the event where the client did not earn employment income in 2023, they are not required to refund the advance. The total amount the client was entitled to receive for 2023 (the advance together with any outstanding amount paid out in the refund process) forms the basis of the Canada Workers Benefit they will receive as an advance in 2024.
Good to know
The Canada Learning Bond is like the Canadian Savings Education Grant for a registered education savings plan or RESP but specifically designed for the children of families on low incomes. To be eligible to receive the benefit, the child’s parent(s) must be up to date in filing their returns. The parent(s) must also apply separately for this benefit. It provides up to $2,000 in grants over 15 years. This benefit is not well known and the take-up rate by low-income families with children has been very low. As a result, in Budget 2024 the federal government announced that enrollment for the Canada Learning Bond will become automatic for children when they turn four years old, starting in 2028. This is not yet the case. It is unclear whether this will apply to newcomer children arriving in the country after they turn four years old.
The Canada Dental Benefit is a federal benefit designed to help low-income seniors and the parents of children 12 years of age and under with the cost of their dental care. This benefit will be replaced in 2024 by the Canadian Dental Care Plan. There is a separate application process for obtaining this benefit. To be eligible to receive the benefit, the client or the child’s parent(s) must be up to date in filing their returns. Note that in 2025, the federal government plans to open applications to low-income individuals and families not currently eligible.
File My Return, a method of filing a return using one’s phone, is now called SimpleFile by Phone. This service has been available since 2018. One must be invited by the CRA to use this service. Many clients who have filed their returns through the CVITP in the past receive these invitations. (See our assessment of this method here.)
The federal government started experimenting with automatic tax filing in July of 2024. This pilot is called SimpleFile. As with SimpleFile by Phone, one must be invited the CRA to use this service. (See our assessment of this pilot here.)