By the end of 2018 charities will be able to manage CRA filings online

Staff Post
By Anna Mathew

By the end of 2018 charities will finally be able to do most of their government submissions and communications online. The improvements are part of the Charities Modernization Project (CHAMP) which came out of funds earmarked in the 2014 Federal Budget for IT improvements at the CRA. 

From the CRA:

The 2014 Federal Budget provided the Directorate with $23 million to modernize its IT systems over a five year period. Improving these systems will allow charities to apply for registration and file their annual returns electronically, reducing their administrative burden.

As part of CHAMP, by the end of 2018:

  • Form T2050, Application to Register a Charity under the Income Tax Act, will be replaced by a new online application for registration e-service.
  • Registered charities will be able to file their annual returns online through the CRA's My Business Account.
  • The Charities Listings will be improved to help Canadians make informed choices about charitable giving.

Drache Aptowitzer has a September 2017 article which discusses the implications and how charities should prepare for the change to online submissions and communications. They advise:

  1. Assigning a person inside the charity to be the main authorized user;
  2. Ensuring that person is subscribed the the Charities Directorate e-lists and visits the Charities Directorate website regularly for updates;
  3. Ensuring that person is aware of what information about charities is publicly available on the CRA website and understands the concept of 'garbage in garbage out' (if a charity gives bad quality data to the CRA, that bad quality data is what will be displayed in the publicly accessible CRA systems); and,
  4. Ensuring that person is aware that all documents filed by the charity with the CRA will be available to all authorized users, so the charity should assess who currently has authorization and maintain their policy and update their authorization lists regularly.

Visit the full Drache Aptowitzer article here. 

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New Seminars! Take the Lead: Principles for Administrative Leadership in the Arts

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Young Associates is thrilled to be partnering with WorkInCulture to launch Take the Lead: Principles for Administrative Leadership for the Arts, a new two day seminar series for increasing managerial and governance skills in arts administration. Running October 12 & 13, 2017, instructors from Young Associates and WorkInCulture will deliver sessions on understanding financial statements, payroll, WSIB, and HR. Get more details here. 

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T4 slips can now be distributed electronically

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In an attempt to encourage efficiency and reduce administrative burden for filers, the 2017 Federal Budget allows employers to electronically issue T4 slips to active employees, even without obtaining prior consent. Until this announcement, employers could send one copy of the T4 electronically, provided they had the employee's consent ahead of time, (as well as still providing one paper copy), or they could send two paper copies to the employee's mailing address or provide two paper copies in person. 

The Budget announcement means that for 2017 T4 slips (and those for any subsequent year), employers now do not have to obtain consent from an employee to distribute their T4 electronically, provided the following considerations are met:

  • the employee is currently active (not on leave, has not left the company)

  • (by the last day of February in the year following the calendar year to which the T4 applies) the employer provides the employee

    • a secure electronic portal through which the employee can obtain access their T4 slip,

    • a secure site for printing the T4 slip, and

    • an option to receive paper copies of the T4 slip, upon request.

The employer must distribute 2 paper copies of the T4:

  • if the employee has requested that method
  • if the employee is on leave or no longer with the company
  • if the employee can not reasonably be expected to access the T4 electronically
  • if the employer cannot meet the above conditions for secure electronic transfer (unless the employee had previously provided consent to receive the T4 slip electronically)

It is important to note that Budget 2017 does not consider email to be a secure method of transferring sensitive information included in the T4 slip, and it does not permit employers to use email as a method of distributing the T4 to employees without their prior consent. So, the only case in which a T4 slip is permitted to be distributed to an employee by email is if the employee has previously provided (written or electronic) consent to receive one copy of the T4 by email. 

Visit this page on the CRA website for more information.