The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recently provided an update regarding its processing of clearance certificate requests.

Due to COVID-19, clearance certificates may be taking longer to process because employees have limited access to CRA offices and are receiving minimal submissions by mail or fax. Any new clearance certificate applications submitted after March 12, 2020 may not form part of the inventory being processed. As such, CRA is encouraging legal representatives who submitted a clearance request after March 12, 2020 to resubmit the request and supporting documents electronically, either through My Account, Represent a Client or My Business Account.

If the applicant cannot use one of these portals, in order to help stop the spread of COVID-19, CRA has created a temporary procedure allowing taxpayers and their representatives to submit clearance certificate requests and supporting information by e-mail. To do so, we can contact the CRA at CCTX19G@cra-arc.gc.ca, and the province where the executor lives should be named in the subject line. CRA has a sample e-mail accessible in the link at the top of this blog, and CRA warns that sensitive information or attachments should not be included in the e-mail request. We can expect a CRA officer to reply by e-mail with requirements to authorize e-mail communication and to advise when/if we are permitted to submit the clearance certificate application by e-mail.

This e-mail option is helpful to applicants, as it may avoid delay in attending to an estate’s tax matters. However, it is a route to consider carefully, as there is greater risk in proceeding by e-mail than through portal access.

Thanks for reading and have a great day,

Natalia R. Angelini