Written by 11:55 PM Mortgage Industry News • 13 Comments Views: 163

NOA Service Companies Under Fire

Reputable NOA retrieval services are a fantastic tool for mortgage broker clients who want quick access to their Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) assessment for income validation.

But CRA has put the kibosh on third parties requesting for NOAs for this purpose. In fact, CRA says it was never supposed to happen in the first place.

“It has always been Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) policy that Form T1013, Authorizing or Cancelling a Representative, is not to be used solely for the purpose of obtaining a notice of assessment or income verification information for the taxpayer or a third party,” said Patrick Samson, a CRA spokesperson. “It recently came to our attention that Form T1013 was being used for income verification purposes, and this type of use is prohibited.”

“The purpose of Form T1013 is to allow taxpayers to authorize a tax preparer to manage their tax matters,” he adds. “The CRA has become aware that there are individuals and businesses who use Form T1013 solely for the purpose of obtaining the notice of assessment and charge a fee to their client for this service. This is not the intent of Form T1013. Taxpayers can get their notice of assessment and proof of income…from the CRA without any cost, in fast and convenient ways.”

“We have launched new services that allow taxpayers to verify their income through the CRA’s online and mobile services, which provide taxpayers immediate access to their NOAs and Proof of Income…Taxpayers can obtain their notice of assessment electronically through the My Account service.”

“In addition, through My Account and the new MyCRA mobile app, a taxpayer can request a ‘Proof of income statement,’ which can be received within days by mail. The My Account income verification statement also includes the taxpayer’s name, social insurance number and address information, all necessary to confirm the identity of the taxpayer.

“As an alternative to My Account, taxpayers can phone CRA to have a copy mailed to them…” Unfortunately, if a mortgage applicant can’t get My Account access, that solution may not help fast enough. “The processing time for requests by mail will take approximately 4 weeks,” says CRA.

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Last modified: April 26, 2017

Robert McLister is one of Canada’s best-known mortgage experts. A mortgage columnist for The Globe and Mail, interest rate analyst and editor of MortgageLogic.news, Rob has been covering Canada's mortgage market since 2007.

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