Beginning March 24, 2025, The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will no longer accept direct deposit updates or changes submitted via EFILE
If you submit a return with direct deposit information, it will be returned back with an error message that says the direct deposit information must be deleted before the return can be resubmitted and accepted by the CRA.
Taxpayers will be able to register for direct deposit using either My Account online, through a Canadian bank or credit union, or by completing a direct deposit enrolment form (paper).
I swear CRA is making it HARDER for Canadians. Now when clients come and they have changed or closed bank accounts and DD it sent it will be months before they see their refund.
I have to believe CRA has identified DD as a risk for hackers. Yes, it’s a PITA but I can’t blame them for making it more difficult. Really, the difference between mailing and DD is not that much. The DD may not be available for this year’s refunds but will be available for following years. It will be a pain for people getting Ontario Trillium Benefits or other monthly benefits until the new bank account info is processed. I just wish CRA would commit to processing changes shortly after receiving the request. I also wonder if the banks & credit unions have communicated to their branches that customers may be asking them to change their CRA DD info at the branch level.
They’re exchanging convenience for greater security here, obviously. CRA gets dragged for security issues all the time. But they also get dragged when they do something like this to improve security. Seems they can’t win.
