Suggestions for additional fields in the ID section.
Indigenous and eligible for tax exemption under section 87 of the Indian Act - ID number, issuing band name, address. Copy of ID on file Y/N. Living on a reserve Y/N. Living on which reserve - name, address. Working on reserve - reserve name, location, employer name.
Legal Representative - Contact info, type - legal guardian, executor, power of attorney.
Delegated Contact - Name, relationship, and contact info of individual managing the documents, signatures, and payment. IE spouse, parent, child, other.
DTC applicant - name and contact info of person who applied for approved DTC.
DTC end date - for limited term DTC approval
Address - In the past CRA maintained three address fields, physical, mailing, and c/o. I don’t know if this is still the case. In any case, since only a subset of clients use this field, it would be great if this were an expandable or pop-up option. Some client’s who live remotely, on traditional reserves, remote job sites, or who work in a different province from their home location have multiple addresses. For example oil and gas workers on contract may have up to two or three addresses - permanent address in another province, temporary address in Calgary or Edmonton, a temporary mailbox address in Alberta. For example some ranch, farm, or acreage address have both a physical address and a different mailing address. For example some indigenous persons living on reserve have both a physical address plus a mailbox address at the band office or near the entrance.
Use preparer address - In the past CRA supported using the preparer address as the mailing address. This showed up as an auto-populated c/o address. Again, not used frequently but very helpful if it does not override the physical address or a client’s mailing address.
Marital status dates and history - A separation and divorce date history and type over multiple years would be helpful. For example, legal or self declared separation date recorded and carried forward. For example, a divorce date carried recorded and carried forward. For example, a start and end date of Spousal Support paid or received with the monthly payment amount per legal agreement. Eventually linking these to the forms module to the Change Of Marital Status and Family Support would be helpful. Adding a workflow for these forms would be helpful.
Child custody type - Joint, primary, split arrangement, per child support agreement, days declared per actual custody.
Dependent parent etc - Dependency relationship, description, start date, end date.
CRA legal name change - Some female clients change their legal name when married, when divorced, and when remarried. It may be very helpful to note the dates and name history.
Move date - A change of province move date and a > 40 kms from work move date would be helpful. Storing both the pre and post move addresses would also be helpful.
Last three address history - Sometimes clients who do not maintain records of their prior addresses request this from their long time tax preparers. It might be helpful to record one prior address when on-boarding a new client and maintaining a record of these addresses as they change. The current and past two addresses in one of the enhanced verification questions. Some younger clients who move frequently and who have multiple employers find this very stressful when trying to pass CRA verification. This information may also be helpful for those who own multiple properties and who may wish to file a principle residence election.
GST info - Noting the following information may be very helpful. GST method - regular, quick, simplified. GST filing frequency - monthly, quarterly, annual. GST period start date - when first registered. GST filing period end date for a 12 month cycle - mm-dd. GST period end date - when account closed. History of GST start and end dates if account opened and closed multiple times. List of all GST numbers and all account holder names when a client has multiple business numbers - sole proprietorship, unincorporated partnership, corporation, multiple corporations. Note if GST arb assessed with no period change. Note if GST period start and/or end date changed by CRA upon notional filing with arbitary assessment.
Self Employed Business Name - List of all T2125 business names, description, and related GST number . Ie. 123-456-789 RT0001, 123-456-789 RT0002.
List of all self-employed gross and net income amounts when multiple businesses - in a printable form
Payroll Account Holder Name - List of all RP account holder names, description, and related GST number . Ie. 123-456-789 RP0001, 123-456-789 RP0002. Ie Jane Doe, nanny account + Jane Doe self employed. Ie multi-jurisdictional corp. Jane Doe Corp Province 1 + Jane Doe Corp Province 2.
Disability Tax Credit Certificate - Condition description, date of first onset, date filed, date approved by CRA, effective date of DTC approved, duration approved - permanent, temporary, renewal date, transfer excess to whom, relationship of person receiving transfer, who filed for the DTC the person with the disability or the person receiving the transfer, if parent then which parent.
RDSP - Date account opened, amounts and dates of matching grants, date when lifetime limit of grants reached.
RRSP - Date when taxpayer turns 18. Date when taxpayer turns 71.
ABIL - Date, description and amount of business investment loss. Reconciliation worksheet and chart of ABIL applied to other sources of income over years.
Principal Residence - Add purchase date, location, and purchase amount of new principal residence. Carry that information forward until principal residence sold or change of use.
Residential Rental Property - Add purchase date, location, and purchase amount of new principal residence. Carry that information forward until principal residence sold or change of use.
Special income - Utility or resource royal income frequency, amount, name of payment issuer, name payment recipient when declared personally.
Lump sum payment - Ability to note the years and amounts of a lump sum payment which may be eligible for the best calculation rule. Ie. CPP, OAS, GIST, pension, etc.
Immigration Date - per CRA client data enquiry. NR74 entry date.
Emigration Date - per CRA client data enquiry for returning Canadians. NR73 date.
Outside of Canada days, dates, location - This year. Prior four years by country.
Country Citizenship - Country name and citizenship status.
Tax Citizenship - Country of tax citizenship.
USA Tax Filer - Form and reason.
Foreign Income - countries, types, and sources - IE pension, investment, rental income, business income, etc.
Some of the use cases above apply more frequently than others. None the less it may be useful to have these in mind when planning field changes and layouts. I have listed above the most time consuming and bothersome items for both the client and the preparer. If this information is not tracked then it can be very time consuming and difficult to obtain.
