Masking SIN number on T183

I was in attendance at the webinar yesterday and I thought I heard in the tax update segment that CRA would accept signed T183 forms that had the SIN number masked. Is this correct or did I misunderstand what was being said? I checked with CRA today and they said they would NOT accept signed T183 forms if the SIN number was masked. Could someone clarify this with me please. Thanks.

I heard that also. Sounds like tax cycle needs to confirm with CRA. Although what they said in the webinar as I recall was the first 5 digits would be masked and not the whole thing. I can see the CRA possibly accepting that.

In the seminar I understood… semi masked was accepted… that is if the first 5 digits only were masked… leaving the last 4 available for verification along with the other data that is on the form.

I asked Taxcycle support line yesterday for clarification on what was said in the tax update segment of the webinar and I was told that I would have to check with CRA since Taxcycle only provided support on how to use their software. I was surprised with this response since the information I was trying to verify came from Taxcyle’s webinar. As a result I went ahead and called the general inquiries line. The agent there told me, after checking with his resource officer, that the full SIN number had to be displayed on all SIGNED T183 forms when submitted to CRA. I also called the EFILE help desk and they said the same thing.

So if the tax update webinar indeed did announce that the signed T183 would be accepted by CRA if only the FIRST FIVE DIGITS were masked this does not match what CRA told me yesterday.

Could someone at Taxcycle please confirm absolutely what is accepted by CRA and what the source written reference to this is? And if CRA does allow the first five digits to be masked on the SIGNED T183 what is the effective date of this change?.

Thanks.

The information which I shared in the webinar came from Kelly Williams, an Acting Director at the CRA. She shared this information in a conference call with all the software vendors in March, 2020.

We are going back to the CRA with this and we’ll have more news shortly.

Thanks Cameron. I look forward to receiving clarification on this soon.

I think CRA would need complete visible SIN, However while printing the copies for self or for distribution to client or other authorized persons we may be able to mask the first 5 digits for protection of privacy.

Any update on this? I know that for the CVITP program (we use TIS60, which is the volunteer version of the T183) the first 6 digits of the taxpayer’s SIN have always been blocked by design by CRA. It’s a different department within CRA but worth noting. Looking forward to the update @Cameron. thanks

We’ve had some informal confirmation that what we are saying is correct, however, nothing through official channels yet.

In a meeting with CRA last week, we were told some direction on this would be provided when they release updated e-Signature guidance in January. Apologies that we don’t yet have more and better information.

I’ve been using Profile for all my printed and e-filed returns this year even though I purchased my first license to TaxCycle in mid-August in preparation for 2020’s tax season. So far, I’ve only used TaxCycle to validate my Profile results and play with it before fully implementing it for next season.

@Cameron, regarding the masking of SIN numbers, Profile began masking the first 5 digits of the SIN on the T183 on April 1, 2020 (version 2019.4.0), so probably right after you had your March conference call with CRA and with all the software vendors. The majority of my clients signed printed copies of the T183 (only a few signed them electronically). ALL my T183’s from April 1st forward ALL have masked SIN numbers. I see NO option within Profile to disable this feature (unlike TaxCycle which provides the option to use it or not). This includes both T183’s printed on paper, and also those printed to PDF.

So, if CRA suddenly refuses to accept these, EVERYONE who processed returns using PROFILE will be in an uproar and complaining to CRA, as ALL our signed T183’s would be considered invalid. That’s a LOT of returns and a lot of tax practitioners affected. So if CRA agents are stating on the phone that they won’t be accepting these, they probably aren’t aware that Profile users all have masked SIN’s on their T183’s. Once they realize the mass scale of this, I’m sure they will have to make a concession to allow masked SIN’s, at least to Profile users who have no control in changing this, at least for 2019’s returns.

Thought I’d let you know in case you hadn’t heard this from anyone else.

Gerry

CRA often asks tax preparer’s to send them selected copies of the signed T183. Has anyone sent them signed T183’s with the first five digits of the SIN masked? And if so did they receive any feedback from them that it was unacceptable?

If so, that should give us the right to ignore their letters where most of the SIN is masked.

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Hi Cameron, Has there been any confirmation as to whether masking part of the SIN is acceptable to CRA on the AuthRep and T183?

Finally! CRA has officially endorsed the practice of masking SINs in this document:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/e-services-businesses/efile-electronic-filers/efile-news-program-updates.html

I hope this puts the debate to an end! It is safe to mask.

We will add some warnings to the print dialog to suggest masking the SIN when it is appropriate… sometime in the next two weeks.

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Thanks Cameron!

Is there a way to now override all the settings to set up the mask, or am I going to have check, change and set as default for all printing for the first print of each print run?

You have to check each set of print settings.

On my list, for the next update, is a little warning to highlight any time you try to email a document without the sin masked, so that should help a little.

~ Cameron

Does the tax program itself (not Tax Folder) currently mask the SIN’s when printing and if so where is the box you have to tick to make it do this?

it is in the print set under the printer setup and do it for each print set.

Thanks! All fixed up.