I have a deceased individual that I am trying to gain access to their CRA online account through RAC. I normally do not have issues gaining access on deceased individuals accounts. I sent my usual Will and Death certificate package into CRA and it has been processed because when I submitted the AuthRep through Taxcycle, I did not receive the message about waiting for documents and the Executrix has called CRA since submitting those documents. I have also confirmed with EFILE helpdesk that they did receive the AuthRep transmission successfully. The estate does have a joint Executor and Executrix and I had the Executrix call the general enquiries line and had sent her an email with an explanation of what to ask/what we were looking for but the agent she dealt with didn’t seem to understand and provided misinformation. I think the agent she spoke with thought I had sent an authorization request through RAC (which I know will be the only way soon for individuals) because she kept saying that the form was not signed. I explained to the Executrix after that the AuthRep form that they signed does not get e-filed, but I hold onto it should CRA ask for it. She was also told to submit form RC552 which is incorrect as that is only if there is no Executor/Executrix or Administrator. In this case there is both Executor and an Executrix. So I then took it upon myself to call the general enquiries line to even though I knew they would not discuss the specific estate with me. The agent suggested that I call CRA with the Executrix so I can help the Executrix sort out the issue…which is great in theory except that trying to get through to CRA these days is no small feat and is very time consuming. Her other suggestion was to resubmit an authorization request but do it through Represent a Client instead of EFILE. I have tried doing that but it stops me at the legal representative’s name saying the info doesn’t match. I am concerned that the Authorization Request through RAC won’t work for estates with joint executor/executrixes. I’ve tried just using one name and then tried the other name. I’ve tried putting both their first names. I get the message that says the information does not match their records. It won’t let me move to the select authorization level. Honestly I am not sure what else to do or if anyone else has run into this type of issue.
Might have something to do with CRA website back-end issues? I’ve noticed several things in the last day or so that don’t work, and/or getting messages saying, “This service is not available now. Try again later.”
I wonder if the CRA issues are related to the recent ransomware attack on Ingram Micro - apparently they provide back-end services to a majority of Canadian web servers, etc.
https://cybernews.com/security/ingram-micro-struck-by-ransomware/
I second that.. many clients saying Service not working since Monday… on various portions of the portals both biz and personal
Tried calling CRA several diff times today but no luck.
Just wanted to provide an update: I did a conference call with CRA and the client. It took me 40x in a row to call just to get in the queue. The agent we spoke with said I did nothing wrong and could not figure out why the authorization would not go through but was still not able to process it. The Executrix had been set up with a RepID by a previous agent, but she was never given the access to the deceased’s account. The agent was able to give the Executrix access to the deceased’s account - although I am waiting to hear from her if it worked because the agent said it would take 3 business days. Then she should be able to give me access to the deceased’s account.
When speaking with the agent, she was not aware that e-filing the AuthRep form was going away for individuals so I showed her the EFILE news. She said they would probably get notified the morning of the change…
She reminded me that doing the Authorization Request process on RAC requires you to have the legal representatives name exactly as it shows on CRA’s records. This means that even though it only says “First Name and Last Name” sometimes you need a middle name or middle initial to be included on the First Name line, etc.