What is an E-filer?
EFILE is an automated mechanism that enables qualified tax preparation service providers and discounters to send information about individual income tax returns to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) straight from EFILE–certified tax preparation software.
Taxpayers may take their tax slips and supporting documents to a registered tax preparer and for a fee, the tax preparer will prepare their return and send it to us electronically using EFILE.
Eligibility: Who can become an E-Filer
Any individual or organization that is in the business of providing tax preparation services can register as an E-filer with the Canada Revenue Agency by satisfying the following conditions:
Be 18 years of age or older- Be a Canadian resident
- Have a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN)
- Be a discharged bankrupt (if applicable)
As a matter of fact, if an individual or an organization is preparing more than 10 returns for a fee, it is mandatory for them to electronically file their returns.
This applies to filing both T1 and T2 returns. The only exception is when a certain type of return is excluded from E-filing. This will be discussed later.
To become an E-filer, the CRA has a screening criterion. Every E-filer is reviewed on an annual basis under this criterion and must meet all of the requirements in order to be registered as an E-filer with the Canada Revenue Agency
Eligibility: Screening Criteria
A screening process is undertaken to evaluate the risk of an applicant as an E-filer. An E-filer deals with highly private and confidential information of a taxpayer. Therefore, it is critical to have a screening process that will ensure that E-filers can be trusted with the confidential information of taxpayers. This helps in maintaining a high level of public confidence in the E-filing system and ensures that all participants adhere to high standards of conduct and integrity.
As per the Canada Revenue Agency, all applicants must meet the following screening criteria:
- Not been convicted under the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, or an income tax act of a province or
territory
- Not been assessed a penalty under the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, or an income tax act of a province
or territory
- Not failed to file personal, corporate, GST/HST, or information returns as required, under the Income Tax Act,
the Excise Tax Act, or an income tax act of a province or territory
- Not failed to comply with the requirement to pay, collect, or remit taxes as required under the Income Tax
Act, the Excise Tax Act, or an income tax act of a province or territory
- Not failed to comply with the requirement to register under the Excise Tax Act
- Not failed to comply with the requirement to keep adequate books and records under the Income Tax Act or the
Excise Tax Act
- No tax liability under the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, or an income tax act of a province or
territory;, or the applicant has a tax liability and has reached a repayment agreement with the collections
section of the tax services office, or a similar provincial authority, and has not breached the repayment
agreement
- Not been convicted of an offence under the Tax Rebate Discounting Act
- Not made any misrepresentations on their application or renewal form or in any correspondence, conversations
or updates submitted relevant to the application or renewal
- Not engaged in any activities that resulted in suspension of electronic filing privileges in a previous year,
or that would have led to suspension if they had been discovered during the program
- Not been rejected for E-fileFILE in either of the previous two filing seasons (other than one that was
conditionally rejected but later met the required conditions)
- Not or does not knowingly, directly, or indirectly, employ or accept help from any person who has been, or who
would have been, denied acceptance into the program, or who has been suspended from the program. This includes
any individual whose actions resulted in the rejection or the suspension of a corporation or a partnership from
the program
- Not engaged in fraud, dishonesty, breach of trust, or other conduct of a disreputable nature
T2 Corporation Internet Filing
Do not register for EFILE if you are only filing your own T2 Corporation income tax return. Visit the Corporation Internet Filing web page for more information.
Tip: The screening process typically takes 30 days to complete. So, it is highly recommended that applications to become an E-filer must be filed in December to ensure that all formalities are complete on time.
T3 Trust Internet Filing vs T3 EFILE
For a list of T3 Trust returns that can use internet filing, visit the Trust Internet Filing web page for more information along with Restrictions for online filing. For T3 electronic returns to be filed using EFILE, visit How to file a T3 return.
What is the E-FILER Renewal Process
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To renew your account, sign in with your EFILE number and password and select "Renew account" on the resulting webpage. Yearly renewal is mandatory for your continued participation in electronic filing. An invitation to renew your account will be sent each year towards the end of October.
For more information please click here