Principal Issues: Update on online access for trust compliance.
Position: See details in response.
2024 STEP CRA Roundtable – June 4, 2024
QUESTION 15. Online Access for Trust Compliance
Can the CRA provide comments on whether it will expand online access for trusts such as:
a) Viewing a trust’s Notice of Assessment or Notice of Reassessment;
b) Uploading elections or other documents related to a T3 Trust Income Tax and Information Return (“T3 return”) (e.g., subsection 164(6) election);
c) Requesting a clearance certificate;
d) Requesting remittance vouchers to pay tax payable at a financial institution, or paying an amount payable online; and
e) Providing authorization to a representative.
CRA Response
Online access for trusts is available as follows:
a) A trust’s Notice of Assessment or Notice of Reassessment can be viewed in My Trust Account (footnote 1) through the mail service.
b) The Submit Documents (footnote 2) service exists for trusts within My Trust Account. The following documents are accepted within this service:
- Applications for a Trust Account Number (Form T3APP) and/or supporting legal documents;
- Supporting documentation required to be submitted with the current year T3 return, including a subsection 164(6) election;
- Supporting documentation requested by the CRA to complete the assessment of a T3 return;
- Supporting documentation requested by the CRA in relation to an audit of a T3 return;
- T3 Adjustment Requests (Form T3ADJ) and related supporting documentation; and
- Documents requested by the Collections and Verification Branch.
c) The ability to request a clearance certificate is currently being explored for a future release.
d) The ability to request remittance vouchers to pay tax payable at a financial institution or to pay an amount payable online is now available in My Trust Account. The payment options available are: pre-authorized debit agreement, My Payment, QR Code, or printable remittance vouchers.
e) Since February 2023, a primary trustee can authorize a representative for immediate access to a trust (T3) account within My Trust Account. Representatives can also submit an authorization request to access a T3 account electronically through Represent a Client (footnote 3) in the same manner they would for personal and corporate accounts.
Note that the primary trustee needs to be registered for My Trust Account to confirm or deny the request. The steps required for a primary trustee to register for their own online access can be found in About My Trust Account. Details regarding how to provide (or obtain) online access are available on the Authorize a Representative web pages (footnote 4) .
Katie Campbell
2024-100783
Response prepared by:
Justin Lawson
T3 Transition Section
Individual Returns Directorate
Assessment, Benefit, and Service Branch
FOOTNOTES
Note to reader: Because of our system requirements, the footnotes contained in the original document are shown below instead:
1 https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/represent-a-client/help-trust-account/about-trust-account.html
2 https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/trust-administrators/t3-return/how-file-t3-return.htmll
3 https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/represent-a-client.html
4 https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/representative-authorization/overview.html