Completing Part XIX information return slips and summary

Part XIX of the Income Tax Act sets the rules for the common reporting standard that was developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development for the automatic exchange of financial account information between tax authorities. Under Part XIX, financial institutions are required to have procedures in place to identify accounts held by non-residents and to report the required information to the Canada Revenue Agency. You will find information in these instructions that will help you complete and file your Part XIX information return. Your Part XIX information return will include slips and a summary. You must file that information return electronically using Web Forms or Internet file transfer (XML). File your information return by May 1 of the year following the calendar year to which it applies. For more information about filing electronically, go to Electronic filing only by using Web Forms or Internet file transfer (XML). We have tried to present the information in the order you will need it. As the filing methods are slightly different, the order may also differ.

Definitions

• “Record” is used for the information within a slip or the information related to the reporting financial institution in the summary.
• “Slip” is used for a detailed record of one reportable account.
• “Summary” is used to report information that is common to all slips in the return. It also includes the number of slips in the return and sums up those slips’ financial amounts. The reporting financial institution’s details are reported on a record in the summary. A summary must be present in each return.
• “Return” refers to a summary and all its associated slips.
• “Submission” is used for all of the returns that are filed or submitted to the CRA during a single transmission (the same electronic filing).
• “Filer” is used to designate the entity responsible for reporting these accounts, that is, the reporting financial institution or, in some cases, the fund manager if the mutual fund trust has no information return RZ program account. Note that the term “filer” in these instructions does not apply to the transmitter or the agent who is sending the returns electronically on behalf of the reporting financial institution.
• “Jurisdiction of tax residence” is used for the jurisdiction destined to receive this data as part of the exchange, that is, the country of residence of the account holder and controlling persons for tax purposes.
• “Chaining” is used in the event that a reporting financial institution files multiple original returns, these are seen as being independent groups, commonly referred to as “chains”. When a new original return is filed, a new chain will be created – completely separate from the initial return. In order to successfully maintain return groupings, the reporting financial must only target summaries and slips within the same chain. It is imperative that each original return is recorded and maintained separately in its own individual chain sequence.

Substantial variations from other information returns

It is important to note the following variations when completing a Part XIX information return compared to other information return types.

• Part XIX information returns can only be filed electronically using Web Forms or Internet file transfer (XML).
• All slips in a return (summary) must have the same document type code, that is, all originals, all amended, all cancelled or all fixed slips – no mix. For example, you cannot mix amendedand cancelled slips within the same amended return. However, it is possible that the Summary Report Type Code or the Reporting Financial Institution Record Document Type code is different than the Document Type Code for the slips.
• You need to assign a unique Document Reference Identifier for each slip that is filed.
• A new unique Document Reference Identifier also applies to each reporting financial institution record that is filed except if its Document Type Code is Resend.
• The new Document Type Code Resend is used in a subsequent filing to amend or cancel a slip when the information previously reported on the reporting financial institution record has not changed. Only in that case would you reuse the same Document Reference Identifier.
• The three first segments (country, tax year, and BN RZ) of the Document Reference Identifiers are the same within the same return while the last two segments (record type and sequence number) vary. The fourth segment distinguishes the type of records: “SL” for a slip and “FI” for the reporting financial institution record (for example, a document reference identifier CA-20-123456789RZ0001-SL-123456789 would be for a slip). The format structure is further defined under their respective headings.
• Returns with duplicate or no Document Reference Identifier will be rejected.
• When you amend, cancel or refile a fixed record, you need to assign a new unique Document Reference Identifier (except if the reporting financial institution record’s information has not changed and its Document Type Code is Resend). You also need to identify or target the record that is being replaced by entering the Document Reference Identifier of that previously filed record in the Corrected Document Reference Identifier field.
• You need to use the new Document Type Code “F” for fixed, for specific corrections that require cancelling and refiling a record, such as a change in the values or number of residence country codes or to add/remove controlling person on a reported slip.
• Targeting a cancelled record is not permitted for amended and cancelled records since they are considered the last record in the chain of changes. However, when you file fixed records – you exceptionally target cancelled record(s) – you enter the Document Reference Identifier of the cancelled record in the Corrected Document Reference Identifier of the fixed record.
• Information related to reportable controlling persons (the natural persons who exercise control over an entity) is documented as part of a slip for an entity or organization account holder.
• Three types of country codes are requested:
  • the Residence Country Code refers to the jurisdiction of tax residence
  • the Country Code refers to the jurisdiction associated with the address
  • the Taxpayer Identification Number Issue Country Code refers to the jurisdiction that issued the taxpayer identification number

  Notes

  The annual exchange of original records is scheduled to occur in September.

  There could be other exchanges throughout the year. It is recommended to check if there is a list of notification of errors on My Business Account or Represent a Client periodically after a return has been submitted, regardless of receiving an email, in case the email recipient is absent for an extended period of time or there are issues with that email address.

  The notifications will be listed as they are received from the jurisdictions. The jurisdictions of tax residence expect to send notifications to the CRA within 15 days of receipt of the account reports. As you will receive separate notifications for different jurisdictions at different times if there are more than one residence country code reported for one account holder or any controlling persons of an organization, you should check My Business Account or Represent a Client periodically. It is recommended that you address records issues for all jurisdictions at the same time. For example, the German tax administration notifies the CRA that the taxpayer identification number (TIN) is missing for one of the three controlling persons that were reported in an organization account holder slip. Two days later, Italy sends a notification of error regarding the same organization slip for the other controlling persons. As there are more than one country listed on this slip, you would try to make sure you address the issues brought to your attention from all the jurisdictions. You would combine the required corrections from Germany and Italy, as well as corrections for any other known issues or from any other jurisdictions, when you send your amended slip.

  You can file amended, cancelled or fixed records throughout the year. These records will be part of the exchange as per the agreement except if the CRA receives a cancelled record for the current tax year before August. As an example, a financial institution receives certification that the account holder is not a reportable person, for Part XIX purposes, after filing the return with the CRA. Filing a cancelled record before August would allow the CRA to exclude this record from the exchange.

  There is no limit to the number of controlling persons per entity or organization slip if you are filing using Internet file transfer (XML). If you are filing using Web Forms, you are limited to 200 controlling persons. In that situation, you would need to add one or more slips if you have more than 200 controlling persons for an entity or organization.

  The No TIN Reason Code is used to report to the CRA that you do not have a foreign tax identification number (TIN) despite reasonable efforts to get it. The CRA does not share this information with the jurisdictions of tax residence. As a result, you may still get a notification of errors if your slips don’t have a foreign TIN.

  Completing slips for the Part XIX Information Return

  This section gives details about the information to be entered in the slip fields.