Software requirements

• Certification testing
• Information for electronic filers
• Certified software

Various competing developers produce tax preparation software. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) does not endorse or recommend any particular package. The decision to use these products or services will not result in any special treatment from the CRA.

Certification testing

The CRA does, however, perform a limited annual review of commercially developed tax preparation software packages.

For software designed to produce only paper records, the review is limited to examining the actual printed forms. There is no review of the software itself.

Should the tax return not be eligible for electronic filing, you must ensure the return is printed in the proper format. Each year the CRA works with software developers to ensure their products print forms and returns that meet the CRA's technical criteria for software designed to produce paper records. The final printed returns and forms have to be compatible with the CRA's processing systems. It is important that users ensure printers are properly set up and instructions for printing returns are carefully followed.

For the 2008 taxation year, some software packages will automatically print a two-dimensional (2D) bar code on page one of the returns. The bar code will enable the CRA to accurately assess the return. Please do not turn off the bar code feature of your software.

Information Circular 97-2, Customized Forms - Returns and Information Slips, provides detailed guidelines for software packages.

This review also includes software that produces records for use in the electronic filing of tax returns. Testing ensures that the software will produce a return that the CRA can process. Among other things, the software must be able to:

1. format electronic records according to the CRA's specifications;
2. calculate the tax-related field correctly;
3. successfully pass error detection validities built into the system; and
4. process all field codes, including the supporting fields necessary for electronic filing.

In mid-November of each year, the CRA provides the certification test returns to each software developer who has asked to be certified for EFILE. The developer uses these returns to test their software.

The CRA tries to make the developer's experience with this testing as easy as possible, and provides the necessary help throughout the testing period.

The CRA allows software developers to view drafts of new or modified forms through a controlled-access Web site. Before having this opportunity, developers must sign a confidentiality agreement with the CRA. The agreement states that developers cannot show their customers these new forms until they are printed and released to the public, usually in December of each year. This advance information allows software developers to create and release timely products that meet the requirements the CRA has established, based on the latest tax legislation.

Once a software developer has completed their product, they can transmit their test returns to the CRA. The CRA evaluates the results and, if the software meets the certification test criteria, issues a confirmation letter to the developer. Only when a developer has received this confirmation letter can the product be marketed as software that is EFILE-compatible.

We do not test the products for user friendliness. Direct all comments you have in this regard to your software developer.

Remember, it is always the responsibility of the taxfiler to ensure that the return is complete and accurate, whether or not software was used to prepare it.

Information for electronic filers

Both EFILE On-Line and EFILE On-Line Plus have been designed to accept specific, though different, file formats — filename.tax and filename.ted respectively. The certified software or application will include instructions on how to save your income tax returns in the required format.

If you have prepared a spousal or family return, make sure you have saved your tax returns following the software instructions. The software should create a ".tax" or ".ted" file for each individual. Be sure to transmit both returns.

Certified software

Consult our listing of software packages for ones that are currently certified for use with EFILE On-Line or EFILE On-Line Plus. Check that Web site regularly during the tax filing season. As our testing progresses, we'll update the list of certified software packages.

For your information, we have also provided the complete list of developers of EFILE Certified Software for the 2007 program (2006 T1 tax return).