CRA EFILE: the filing channel for paid tax preparers

What CRA EFILE is and who uses it

CRA EFILE is the transmission service the Canada Revenue Agency provides for tax preparers. A preparer uses certified professional software to send clients' returns, signing in with an EFILE number and password issued by the CRA. The CRA restricts EFILE access to filing returns; any other use of the service is prohibited.

EFILE carries individual T1 returns for tax years 2018 to 2025 in the 2026 season, amended T1 returns for 2022 to 2025, and T3 trust returns. Corporations use a different channel, Corporation Internet Filing, and the CRA tells business owners not to register for EFILE only to send their own T2.

EFILE vs NETFILE: which one applies to you

The two services use the same CRA processing systems but serve different people. NETFILE is for you filing your own return, or up to 20 returns per computer or CRA account per year if you are registered for Represent a Client. EFILE is for preparers, usually paid, who file on a volume basis. Our NETFILE guide covers the self-filing side.

EFILE also reaches some returns NETFILE refuses. For example, NETFILE will not take any deceased person's return, while the EFILE exclusion list covers taxpayers who died before the current tax year. That leaves room for a preparer to send some final returns electronically. Our NETFILE eligibility page lists what the self-filing service rejects.

CRA EFILE requirements and registration

Anyone who provides tax preparation services in Canada can apply, as long as each applicant meets the CRA's definition and passes screening. Applicants include sole proprietors, partners, corporate directors, officers and controlling shareholders, branch managers, franchise holders and individual preparers, including subcontractors.

Personal requirements

• At least 18 years old
• Resident in Canada
• A valid social insurance number
• If ever bankrupt, discharged from the bankruptcy

Suitability screening

The CRA checks applicants before, during and after each filing season. Grounds for refusal include tax-law convictions, unpaid tax debts without a payment arrangement, unfiled returns, failures to collect or remit taxes, misrepresentation on the application, a rejection in either of the two previous seasons, and conduct involving fraud, dishonesty or breach of trust.

Your CRA EFILE number

Registration happens through the EFILE Registration Online form. The CRA says review normally ends within 30 business days, though complex cases take longer. Approved applicants receive an EFILE number and password, which they use to sign in, update the account, renew and view transmission history. Build that month-long wait into your plans if you intend to open a practice before the late-February start of the season.

CRA EFILE renewal each year

EFILE is not a one-time registration. The CRA sends each account an invitation to renew toward the end of October, and a preparer who does not renew cannot keep transmitting. Screening is repeated at renewal, so a new personal tax debt or unfiled return can block it.

1. Watch for the renewal invitation in late October.
2. Sign in with your EFILE number and password and confirm each applicant's details.
3. Settle any personal filing or payment gaps before submitting, since screening applies again.
4. Confirm your professional software is certified for the coming season before February.

Client consent with Form T183

For every individual return sent through EFILE, the preparer must complete Form T183, Information Return for Electronic Filing of an Individual's Income Tax and Benefit Return. The client, or someone legally required to file for them, signs Part F before the return is transmitted. A signature by another person is accepted only under a valid power of attorney.

• The form is completed in duplicate; preparer and client each keep a copy.
• Copies must be kept for at least 6 years after the return was filed electronically.
• Clients do not send the T183 to the CRA unless the CRA asks for it.
• A preparer who cannot produce completed T183 forms on request can have EFILE privileges suspended.

Mandatory electronic filing for paid preparers

Since January 1, 2024, anyone who accepts payment to prepare more than 5 T1, T2 or T3 returns in a calendar year must file those returns electronically. Returns prepared for free do not count. Amended T1 returns sent on paper also count as paper-filed returns.

The rule does not apply to returns that fall under the electronic filing exclusions, or to preparers whose EFILE application was rejected or whose privileges were suspended or revoked.

When EFILE is not available

Some returns cannot travel through EFILE whoever prepares them. The CRA's exclusion list includes most non-residents (with a section 116 exception for 2023 to 2025), deemed residents such as sojourners, taxpayers who died before the current tax year, people electing under section 217, bankrupts filing for the year just before the bankruptcy, and claims for scientific research and experimental development expenses. Those returns go on paper; see paper tax returns.

If a transmission bounces for a data problem rather than an exclusion, the error codes are listed in chapter 2 of the Electronic Filers Manual, RC4018. Our page on a rejected NETFILE return explains the common causes from the taxpayer's side.