January 23, 2021
Many volunteers are asked to file a client’s income tax and benefit return for the most recent tax year. However, there are also instances where volunteers may be asked to file prior year returns for a client who has skipped one or more tax year filings. Here’s what we’ve learned from helping clients to file returns for prior years.
1. The UFile software for the most recent year and for prior years can be downloaded from this site: https://www.ufile.ca/products/cvitp
2. A different activation key will be needed to unlock each year of the software. The host organization may have the keys for some of the years. Then again, the CVITP Regional Coordinator from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) may also have the keys. Otherwise, volunteers could try contacting UFile through their support line as UFile suggests in its frequently asked questions about CVITP and UFile. (We tried this but did not get any response from UFile.)
3. Normally, the client should provide the volunteer with all the necessary documentation to complete the prior year returns. However:
a. For 2017 onwards, the volunteer can also use Auto-fill My Return. First, the volunteer will need to obtain a RepID which authorizes them to Represent a Client. This allows the volunteer to use Auto-fill My Return to access the T slips the CRA has on file for the client for a specific tax year.
i. Within the UFile software for a specific year, the volunteer can see how to access the client’s account with the CRA.
ii. Once in the account, the volunteer can see the client’s T slips for that year. The volunteer can then select which of these T slips are to be downloaded into the tax software.
iii. When the client’s CRA account is accessed, the volunteer can also see all of the tax years for which the client has not yet filed, whether or not the client has set up direct deposit with the CRA, whether or not there is a client email address on file and whether or not any mail sent by the CRA to the client has been returned (suggesting the client’s postal address on file with the CRA may not be the current one).
iv. Once the CRA system has given the volunteer the authority to access a client’s T slips for one year, then the volunteer can use this authority to access the same client’s T slips for other years, with the relevant UFile software for the years in question.
b. For the years prior to 2017, if the client does not have all of their T slips, the volunteer will need to get the client to first write to the CRA requesting that copies of the T slips be sent to the client. (In our dealings with such clients, we have prepared a form letter that the client need only sign and then send in. In one instance, where one of us was speaking on the phone in the company of the client, the CRA agent was able to action this request.) However, be forewarned that it can take months for the CRA to respond to this kind of request.
4. Once the return has been prepared:
a. For 2017 onwards, the volunteer can use Efile.
b. For the years prior to 2017, the volunteer will need to print up the return(s) and get the client to sign and send the printed return(s) by regular post to the CRA.
5. Note that the CRA has a ten year limitation which applies to taxpayers: “a taxpayer has 10 years from the end of a calendar year in which the tax year or fiscal period at issue ended to make a request to the CRA for relief or to file an income tax return.” This suggests that clients who have not filed a return that is more than ten years old – and who do not owe any back taxes from then – cannot seek a refund of any tax overpayment. It may also mean that these clients will not be able to claim any benefits and credits for returns they have not filed that are more than ten years old. The CRA points out that the time limits on provincial and territorial benefits and credits vary by province and territory.