You may have been asked to provide your bank account information to CRA so that any refunds owed to you can be directly deposited into your account.
However, if you are concerned that CRA now has access to your account and could access your funds you can stop worrying. CRA has stated that if money is owed to them that giving them your banking information will not trigger the process of allowing them to withdraw money from your bank account.
When you register for direct deposit you are not authorizing CRA to withdraw money from your bank account. If you owe money to CRA and are required to make payments they will first work with you to come to an agreement on payment terms. Only after they have tried to come to terms with you will they consider taking money directly from your account.
CRA can only withdraw money from your bank account when a garnishment is in place. A garnishment is a legal procedure to withdraw money from a bank account and you will have the opportunity to respond to CRA on the matter before that occurs. If you have received any notices referring to a garnishment please contact us immediately.
Also, please be aware that CRA will only correspond with you via mail and by phone. They will never use email to try to receive payment or banking information. They will also never take credit card payments or credit card information over the phone. If someone is asking you for that information they are not from CRA. A CRA representative will also always give you their CRA ID number. If you have any concerns, call them back on one of the CRA general inquiry numbers and ask for that CRA employee. To read a previous article written on the topic of CRA fraud please click here. To read about general fraud on the CRA website, click here.
For more detailed information please call KWB at 780-466-6204 or email us by clicking here.
