There could be a lot of reasons why you would want to put someone in charge of your tax matters. You may simply not understand the tax system, and feel uncomfortable dealing with the CRA. You may have health issues that prevent you from following up on your tax situation. Or, you may be a senior and just don’t want the responsibility other than having to pay what is owed to this department.
You have the option to choose who you want to act as your representative. It could be a family member, or friend, business person, or your accountant. No matter who it is be sure to make your choice wisely.
You can choose what level of authority you want to delegate to this individual. You will have the choice of a level one or two. There is a third level that is only applicable to a legal representative.
Level 1:
This level of authority for the most part lets the representative view most documents pertaining to your taxes. Although there are some exemptions, for example, view children in primary care along with several other viewing restrictions. The level 1 basically does not allow any changes to be made on your tax data.
Level 2:
This level gives the representative a little more authority which includes those of level one plus the ability to make some changes to your tax filing and information.
Level 3:
Is only open to your legal representative and gives them all the authority that level 1 and 2 has, with some additional responsibilities. For example, your level 3 representative is the only one that is allowed to see your direct deposit records for the CRA. They can also make payments.
In order to give CRA the authority to release information to your representative you need to file a T1013 with the department. On this form you will designate at what level you are authorizing your representative. If you do not clearly indicate this the CRA will accept them at a Level 1 only.
Delegating some tax authority to a representative does not render you as non responsible for your tax matters. It is up to you to fully understand what actions your representative is conducting regarding your tax matters on your behalf. They should take the time to fully explain these to you so you totally understand.
Having a representative helps to relieve the burden from you when it comes to understanding tax matters that you have to comply with.
As you can see with the various levels you are providing a level of trust with the representative you choose. It is highly important that you choose a person or legal representative that will carry out the necessary transactions according to law and what best serves your needs.
