Tax season: a secure way to collect T4s, receipts and slips from clients
Short answer: Send every client a secure link with a personal tax checklist form: life changes, income types and slips, deductions, foreign property and home sales. They upload slips and receipts from their phone; you get one organized set per client, ready for your tax software, and the copy is deleted after filing.
What to ask every personal tax client
- Changes this year: marital status, address, dependants
- Income: T4, T4A, T4E, T5, T3, T5008, RRSP/RRIF withdrawals, self-employment, rental, foreign income
- Deductions and credits: RRSP and FHSA, childcare, medical, donations, tuition (T2202), moving, union dues, home office, disability
- Foreign property costing more than $100,000 at any time in the year (T1135)
- Home purchases, sales or moves
- Last year's Notice of Assessment
Why email breaks down in March and April
Hundreds of attachments, half-complete sets, photos of receipts in random formats, and client SIN-bearing slips sitting in inboxes for years. A request per client with a checklist, reminders and automatic deletion keeps it orderly.
Small business clients
Use a separate intake: business number, structure, year-end, GST/HST and payroll, accounting software, bank and card statements, sales and expense records.
Clients must keep their own tax records (generally six years); your copies belong in your practice software. The upload tool's copy should be temporary.
General information for Canadian businesses, not legal advice. Laws and professional rules change — check the current version with your regulator or lawyer.
SealDrop sends your clients or patients a secure link to upload documents and fill in forms. Everything is stored in Canada and deleted once you have filed it. SealDrop for accountants →