Getting Ready for Tax Season

1. Client Portal
   
   To ensure your confidential information is protected and secure, our professionals use a web portal to share electronic materials (PDFs) and information with you. We do not use any third‐party service providers, such as Dropbox or SharePoint. Once your tax materials are uploaded to our client portal, your team of professionals are notified immediately, and you will receive an email notification when we access your files.
   
   Crowe Soberman’s Client Portal can be accessed via the grey navigation bar at the top of our web page. Individual passwords expire every 45 days. If you need to reset your password, use the “Forgot password?” option or use this link.
   
   
2. Mail or Courier
   
   Crowe Soberman LLP
   2 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 1100
   Toronto, ON M4T 2T5
   CANADA
   
   Note: If you are mailing or couriering tax materials, we recommend using a service with a signature required and tracking service to guarantee safe delivery.
   
   
3. In-person Drop-off
   
   Due to COVID-19 health and safety precautions, the offices at 2 St. Clair Avenue East are operating in a limited capacity, including elevator services. Please email your team of advisors before dropping off your tax materials to confirm our reception desk is open.
   
   If the building’s security personnel are at their station outside of the ground-floor elevators, let them know you are visiting Crowe Soberman and they will let provide access to our lobby on the 11th floor. If there are no security personnel present, please call our reception desk (416 964 7633) and one of our staff will arrange to meet you.

Send us your tax materials as soon as you’ve gathered ALL your receipts. Remember that “More is Better” when deciding what documents to submit. It also takes our professionals less time to prepare a tax return when we have all the documents ready and available.

If T3 Statement of Trust Income Allocations and Designations are part of your tax materials, make sure to submit all your information in early April once you have received the T3s. You will have a T3 if any of your investments are mutual funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), or if you receive taxable income from an estate.

Crowe Soberman’s annual client tax package will be delivered February 2021 and includes a detailed checklist of due dates, information, and tax materials we’ll need to collect. If you are a new client, please review your 2019 slips and receipts as well.

Let us know about any significant life changes that occurred over the past year that may impact the tax materials you submit. Examples of significant life changes would include starting post-secondary school, change in marital status, selling a home, collecting government COVID-19 relief subsidies (CERB, CRB, EI, etc.), collecting Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF), starting a business, or a change in investment strategy. Don’t forget to let us know if your contact information (phone, address, email) has changed too.

For those requesting information regarding their Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) contribution room, we advise using your banking information to investigate your own records. Unfortunately, the only access to information from the CRA that our professionals have is limited to TFSA room allotment as of January 1, 2021.

Prepared tax returns will be sent to you through the client portal for signed consent and confirmation. Our professionals will electronically file (e-file) your tax return (except in limited circumstances) but cannot do so without signed consent indicating that you have reviewed and agreed to all the information in our return. Email or verbal authorization will not be accepted.

Status of your tax return filing or refund can be viewed through Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) “My Account”.

1. Set up “My Account” with CRA
Canada Revenue Agency’s “My Account” offers many benefits to taxpayers regarding the knowledge and understanding of their own tax situation. Access to TFSA and RRSP contribution room, Notices of Assessment, tax return filing status, instalment balances, and tax payment options are available through “My Account” along with other important information.
To create your CRA “My Account”:

• Select “Sign‐In Partner Login/Register” and follow the steps.
• After providing your contact information and details, CRA will send you an official access code by mail.
• Enter the access code into “My Account” and you will have full access to your account.

2. Arrange for a direct deposit of your refund

To arrange for direct deposit of your refund, you can sign-up online or contact your financial institution.
To sign up for direct deposit over the phone, call CRA at 1 800 959 8281. You will need your:

• Social insurance number;
• Full name and current address, including postal code;
• Date of birth;
• Most recent income tax and benefit return and information about the most recent payments you received from the Canada Revenue Agency; and
• Banking information: three-digit financial institution number, five-digit transit number, and your account number.