03/19/2025
I have had several requests this year from lawyers and mortgage brokers to be sent copies of client tax returns. It's enough that I'm going to make a public post here to advise that I DO NOT provide copies of tax returns to third parties, regardless of whether the client authorizes it or not. Your tax return files are provided to you every year and it is your responsibility to keep it in a safe place where you can access it at anytime and can provide it to whomever you need to.
There are a couple of reasons for this policy. The number one reason is liability... there is A LOT of fraud happening across this country where taxpayers' lives are being ruined by their identity being stolen and CRA data being changed after hacking into their accounts. My business liability insurance will NOT allow me to send documentation to a third party, regardless of who it is. I care too much about all of you to see any of your lives potentially turned upside down because information was intercepted in some way from being sent to a third party. I take the security of your information VERY seriously and have invested a significant amount, over the past several years, into ensuring I have secure software for documentation sharing between yourself and me.
The other reason is the amount of time these requests require from me at a time of year where I simply don't have it available. I have to pull historical documentation off a locked external hard drive in order to send copies to you, which you can send to whomever. The number of requests I receive for this is increasing every year to a level that I will no longer be providing extra copies for free as it just takes up so much of my time to do when I have already provided these files to you. Requests for copies will now incur a $25 charge. Please save your files where you can find them when you need them.
