Do you know who can access all of your financial information because you signed something?

Did you know that someone who has access, even Level 1 access can look at all of your RSP contributions and figure out how much you have saved or withdrawn to/from your RSP's?

Did you know they can see your TFSA limit, so they know how much you have in your TFSA? That's easy. The TFSA has been around since 2008 and you may have as much as $25,500 if you've contributed $5,000 x 4 years plus $5,500 for this year.

Did you know they can look at your entire tax return history for over 10 years? They can figure out how much you've earned, saved, invested, gained/lost on capital transactions, tuition you've paid, years you paid to go to school, scholarships, how much you've withdrawn from savings, what your pension income is, how much you've paid for medical, child care, how many dependents you have and what their health and / or disability status is? I could go on, but that's a lot of information, and it's all on the CRA website available to every person you've ever given authorization to.

Here's a link to information you need to read very carefully. Your privacy may be seriously at risk and if you don't take steps to deal with it, anyone you've ever given permission to file your tax return or deal with any tax matters may still be able to see all of your personal financial information

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/chng_rps/menu-eng.html?=slnk

The T1013 form authorizes someone else to either get/give information (Level 1) or authorizes someone else to act for you (Level 2). Level 2 lets someone else adjust your old tax returns and now, they can adjust your address as well, so you wouldn't even know they adjusted your return. Until someone calls to collect or question the request, maybe months from now (if they have time, or enough auditors).

T1013 has provisions on it that a Level 2 person can make adjustments for someone else, directly through their representative ID online in My Account on the CRA website. There's no need to submit a paper adjustment request.

I've always believed that the only person who should be able to act for you is someone who has your Power of Attorney. That's because with a PA, someone competent to assess your competence to assign your PA has done that. You've met with a notary or a lawyer. They have a process they go through to determine if you are competent to give away your power to act. If they aren't sure, they are not just allowed to issue a PA, they must require your competence to be assessed by an appropriate medical professional.

There are safeguards. The Public Trustee in the province/territory can look into situations where someone may not have been competent to allow someone else to act for them at the time that power was given.

I'd like to know where the safeguards are.

It's bizarre, but if me, as your tax preparer, was assigned by you as a representative for CRA purposes, I can't remove myself from that status, only you, the taxpayer can remove me. In the mean time, I can go look at your records any time I want to. Even if I don't have you as a client any more.

What's bizarre, you think? Of course people would remove themselves... not true. I still have people on my list that haven't been my clients for many years. I don't go look at their tax returns, but I could if I wanted to.

If I'm a representative, CRA won't even remove me if I, as a professional, ask to be removed.

There's something very wrong with that. It gets worse. CRA can call me and tell me all about it. If that taxpayer isn't in compliance, or isn't paying their bills, years later. It's happened to me. I have to stop them from telling me all about you.  Staff at CRA will agree will start telling me all about you, even if I'm no longer in contact with you, years later. If you've ever given me either level 1 or 2, I still have it until you remove me.

If this is you, please do something about it. It worries me, that you don't take better care of who can access your information. If I'm still on there, how many other people have access?

You might have multiple representatives still able to access all of your personal financial information on My Account because you signed a T1013 at some point in the past.

Do you know who knows everything about your financial transactions and history? Every one of those representatives.

Want to know how to access your records to find out who has access?

1. Sign up for My Account on the CRA website. It will take a week to get access as you'll have to wait for a confirmation letter to gain access if you don't have access already. Then you can sign in and see who you've authorized, and cancel or add new Reps yourself.
2. Complete a T1013, mail it in and wait a few weeks for it be processed cancelling your Reps
3. Call CRA and ask. You should be able to demand that any Rep's you don't want to be there to be cancelled immediately.