Responsibilities of authorized representatives

• You shall act in the interest of your clients, employers, and interested third parties.
• You agree not to disclose any taxpayer information that is provided to you by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to anyone else without the taxpayer's prior consent.
• You agree to ensure the security and privacy of all transactions you conduct on behalf of the taxpayer(s).
• You will ensure that all documents are properly disposed of to protect the taxpayer's confidentiality.
• You must comply with all provisions of applicable legislation (i.e. Income Tax Act (ITA), Excise Tax Act (ETA), etc).
• Please note that if you are accessing a taxpayer's account information online through the Represent a Client online service, you are also subject to the terms and conditions of the Represent a Client online service.
• EFILE service providers are subject to the terms and conditions of EFILE.

It is your responsibility as a representative to provide accurate information to the CRA. If incorrect information is provided, you may be held responsible and subject to third-party penalties; subsections 163.2(2), 163.2(4) under the Income Tax Act and subsections 285.1 (2) and 285.1 (4) of the Excise Tax Act. Third-party penalties are explained in detail in: Information Circular IC01-1, Third-Party Civil Penalties.

In addition, persons who are subject to third-party penalties could also face tax evasion charges. When individuals are convicted of tax evasion, they must still repay the full amount of taxes owing, plus interest and any civil penalties assessed by the CRA. In addition, the courts may fine them up to 200% of the taxes evaded and impose a jail term of up to five years. The CRA shares cases of people, corporations and trusts convicted in the courts for tax evasion.

If you would like to report suspected tax or benefit cheating, visit Canada.ca/taxes-leads. Steps will be taken to protect your identity, although you may provide information anonymously.

The CRA continues to encourage taxpayers to come forward and correct their tax affairs through the Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP): Canada.ca/taxes-voluntary-disclosures.

The CRA reserves the right to revoke or suspend your privileges as an authorized representative of the taxpayer if you fail to abide by these terms and conditions of use.