The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced that registered charities can now complete and file their T3010 Registered Charity Information Returns online.
By law, registered charities must file a completed annual T3010 return no later than six months after the end of their fiscal periods.
Failing to file the information return in any given year can result in the CRA revoking a charity's registration.
With postal service disruptions becoming increasingly common, filing a T3010 return online can help charities avoid mail delivery delays and meet their T3010 filing deadlines.
How to file online
Registered charities wishing to file online must have a MyBusiness Account (MyBA) linked to their registered charity. Charities without a MyBA can register for an account.
Through the MyBA, registered charities can update their information and upload supporting documents. Registered charities can also opt to receive business correspondence from the CRA online through MyBA.
With the CRA's recent announcement, registered charities or their authorized representatives can now file a completed T3010 return using MyBA or Represent a Client (RAC), respectively.
Completing the T3010 return online
To help facilitate online filing, the CRA allows charities or their authorized representatives to fill out their T3010 directly in the online portal in MyBA or RAC.
The interactive online form automatically populates the correct version of the T3010 return and all other required forms for the charity, which helps to ensure that charities fulfill their reporting obligations accurately and completely. Once it completes all the fields in the online portal, the charity or authorized representative can file the T3010 return by simply clicking "submit."
Alternatively, charities or their authorized representatives can use CRA-certified software to complete their returns (note: users must purchase the software before gaining access to the software-generated forms) and then file the completed returns online by uploading them to MyBA or RAC.
Advantages of online filing
Once filed online, a charity's T3010 return is processed instantly. This makes filing online faster, more efficient, and less expensive than filing by mail.
Additionally, once the T3010 is filed online, the public portions of a charity's T3010 return will be available online on the CRA's list of charities the next day. This near-instantaneous upload of information helps to promote a more responsive, more transparent, and ultimately more accountable charitable sector.
Filing online also ensures that the T3010 is securely submitted. Gone are the days when a charity's return would get lost in the mail, resulting in inadvertent non-compliance by the charity.
Other resources
For more information on how to complete the T3010 return online, we invite readers to consult the following CRA resources (in addition to the links scattered throughout this article):
- Webinar – Registering for your CRA Account: A step-by-step guide for charities
- Webinar – Completing your T3010 online: A walkthrough for charities
- Completing Form T3010 Registered Charity Information Return
- An easier and faster way to file your charity's return
- Filing your T3010: Best practices from our Client Service team
We welcome the CRA's announcement and the Agency's overall efforts to transition its service platform to a more accessible, digital-by-default environment. While charities and their representatives can still file their T3010s by mail or by fax, allowing charities to complete and file their T3010s online helps to reduce red tape for charities, removes a source of friction, and should ultimately facilitate more widespread tax compliance across the sector.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
