8 July 2013 Internal T.I. 2013-0482821I7 - Business number - clarification of 241(9.3)

Please note that the following document, although believed to be correct at the time of issue, may not represent the current position of the CRA.
Prenez note que ce document, bien qu'exact au moment émis, peut ne pas représenter la position actuelle de l'ARC.

Principal Issues: Whether subsection 241(9.3) permits the Minister to disclose a corporation's business number to a third party with respect to the preparation of T5 slips.

Position: No.

Reasons: Subsection 241(9.3) provides the Minster with the discretion to disclose the business number to the public if it is in connection with a program, activity or service undertaken by the Minister. As the preparation of T5 slips is not a program, activity or service undertaken by the Minister, the provisions of subsection 241(9.3) are not applicable.

July 8, 2013

Policy, Procedures and Field support section HEADQUARTERS
Taxpayer Services Directorate Income Tax Rulings
Directorate
Attention: Eliana Vieglais Gillian Godson

2013-048282

Application of Subsection 241(9.3)

We are writing in reply to your email of March 21, 2013, requesting our views on the application of subsection 241(9.3) of the Income Tax Act (the "Act").

Your inquiry indicates that you have received a request for clarification with respect to the confidentiality guidelines when providing a Business Number ("BN") to a third party. In the situation at hand, the third party is a preparer of Statement of Investment Income information slips ("T5 slips") and is required to include the BN on the T5 slips. The third party has requested that the Canada Revenue Agency (the "CRA") provide them with the BN of the recipients of the T5 slips in order that they may complete the T5 slips.

Specifically, you have requested clarification of whether subsection 241(9.3) of the Act would apply in this situation to allow the CRA to provide the BN to a preparer of T5 information slips.

Our comments

In general, the confidentiality provisions in section 241 of the Act prohibit any official or other representative of a government from knowingly providing to any person any taxpayer information. In that regard, "taxpayer information" is information of any kind and in any form obtained by or on behalf of the Minister for the purposes of the Act. The BN of a taxpayer is "taxpayer information" and, as such, cannot be disclosed by the Minister except in certain circumstances where the Act provides for specific exceptions.

Examples of specific exceptions to the confidentiality provisions of the Act are provided in subsections 241(9.2) to (9.4). The purpose of these provisions is to facilitate greater use of the BN by other levels of government, with a view to reducing paper work and duplication of effort for business and government alike. In particular, subsection 241(9.3) of the Act provides the Minister with the discretion to disclose the BN to the public if it is in connection with a program, activity or service undertaken by the Minister.

With respect to your question, the preparation of T5 slips is not a program, activity or service undertaken by the Minister. Accordingly, the exception in subsection 241(9.3) to the confidentiality provisions does not permit the Minister to share the BN information with a preparer of a T5 slip.

In addition, it should be noted that subsection 237(2) of the Act provides that the preparer of information slips should make a reasonable effort to obtain the SIN or BN information from the individuals or businesses for which they are preparing information slips, such as T5 slips. Individuals or businesses failing to provide their SIN or BN to a person required to make an information return may be subject to a penalty of $100 for each failure, under subsection 162(6) of the Act.

We trust these comments will be of assistance.

Yours truly,

Terry Young, CA, CPA
for Director
International Division
Income Tax Rulings Directorate
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch