News and program updates

February 9, 2006

Service Interruptions - Annual Conversion

Service interruptions will occur on February 11 and 12, 2006.

The Canada Revenue Agency's mainframe systems will be going through an annual conversion process. The EFILE On-Line Plus and SEND transmission services will be temporarily closed until Monday morning. Acknowledgement files are scheduled to commence on Monday morning, February 13, 2006 at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time).

February 8, 2006

SEND - Employment Insurance and Other Benefits

T4E slips and other benefits are currently being updated on our records and we hope to have received all slips by February 28th, 2006.

Our records have already been updated for some clients who have been issued one or more T4E. Accordingly, SEND is displaying results for these clients.

January 20, 2006

System Maintenance

In preparation for the acceptance of T1 Production transmissions on Monday, January 23, 2006, CRA's mainframe applications will be subject to system maintenance procedures this coming weekend.

Starting at midnight (eastern standard time) on Friday, January 20, the EFILE and SEND systems will be closed until Monday, January 23, at 8:30 a.m. (eastern standard time).

Users attempting to access the sites will receive a "scheduled maintenance" message.

We apologize for this temporary inconvenience.

January 18, 2006

T1 Stockpile

For a number of years, the CRA has permitted the EFILE community to submit returns in advance of our official opening in early February providing their software has been certified. For the 2006 program (2005 tax year returns) the EOL+ (batch) filing system will accept transmissions into the stockpile inventory on January 23, 2006 at 8:30 a.m. (eastern standard time). These returns will be held until we open for processing on February 13, 2006.

Past experience has proven that many of these stockpiled returns get rejected when we try to process them in February because they were submitted under duplicate ISA control numbers. These control numbers are generated by your software. It is an EDI and EFILE system requirement that each batch be submitted under a separate and distinct ISA number.

In an effort to correct the duplicate ISA number problem, we have implemented additional system logic.

During the stockpile period, Efilers who inadvertently send in batches under duplicate ISA control numbers will now have those transactions rejected just as they are during the regular program. Should you have any transmissions that fall into this category, the Action Menu Item, "Outstanding Acknowledgement Files" will be displayed the next time you logon. Accessing that option will result in an EDI 864 message being available for retrieval. Not all software handle this message the same but generally speaking, the message will indicate that CRA has received a transmission from you using duplicate control numbers. It will indicate the number and ask that it be retransmitted. You need only to change the ISA number and retransmit the file.

January 13, 2006

Electronic Payments

Do you have clients that need to make a CRA payment? The electronic payment method is the best way to ensure their payment is received on time and allocated to the correct account. Clients can pay electronically through their financial institution's Internet or telephone banking services. Most financial institutions will also allow clients to post date their electronic payment to April 30. Clients receive immediate confirmation from their bank and the payment will be reflected on their Notice of Assessment. For more information clients can visit CRA's website or contact their financial institution.

Information Returns Electronic Filing

As of January 9, 2006, the Internet File Transfer (XML) will be available for the following information returns: Originals and amended - T1204, T4, T4A, T4A-NR, T4RIF, and T4RSP; Originals only -T4E. You can also file multiple returns within a single submission (maximum 610 kb). Clients will need a payroll Business Number (RP) and a Web Access Code (WAC) when they file these returns with the CRA.

Note: Currently, our Web Access Code (WAC) authentication system only recognizes Business Number (BN) accounts with an RP extension for the XML filing option. Unfortunately, the functionality to accept account numbers other than a BN will only be available for the 2007 filing season. However, clients who already have a Payroll Number (RP), and an associated WAC to file their T4 returns, may also file original NR4, T3, T5, T5007, T5008, RRSP Contribution Receipt, AGR-1, SAFER and T5018 returns, as well as amended NR4, T3, T5, and T5008 returns using the same Payroll Number and WAC.

December 6, 2005

SEND PRODUCTION

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will start accepting production SEND requests at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern time) on December 12, 2005.