Penalties and interest
Various penalties may be applied on a TFSA annual information return.
A TFSA annual information return consists of TFSA individual records and the related TFSA return summary. A summary alone is not a TFSA annual information return. You have to fill out a TFSA annual information return if you prepare one or more TFSA individual records.
We will issue a notice of assessment for the TFSA annual information return only if we apply a penalty.
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The minimum penalty for late filing the TFSA annual information return is $100 and the maximum penalty is $7,500. For more information, go to Penalties.
Anyone who prepares a TFSA annual information return has to make a reasonable effort to get the necessary information, including the SIN or TTN and date of birth of the individual. If you fail to comply with this requirement, you may have to pay a $100 penalty for each offence.
Make sure that the SIN or TTN you enter on each TFSA individual record matches the TFSA holder’s SIN or valid TTN. You must also make sure that the name and date of birth match the information in our records.
If you have to prepare a TFSA annual information return, or if you are an officer, employee, or agent of a person who does, do not share a person’s SIN or TTN unless the law requires or allows you to do so, or you need it for the reason it was given to you.
If you use an individual’s SIN/TTN for unauthorized purposes, you may be guilty of an offence and liable, if convicted, to a maximum fine of $5,000 or imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both.
The CRA charges interest, compounded daily at a prescribed rate, on the total amount of penalties and interest outstanding. Interest and penalties are payable to the Receiver General of Canada.
The CRA administers legislation, commonly called taxpayer relief provisions, that allows the CRA's discretion to cancel or waive penalties and interest when taxpayers cannot meet their tax obligations due to circumstances beyond their control.
The CRA’s discretion to grant relief is limited to any period that ends within 10 calendar years before the year in which a relief request is made.
For penalties, the CRA will consider your request only if it relates to a tax year or fiscal period ending in any of the 10 calendar years before the year in which you make your request. For example, your request made in 2023 must relate to a penalty for a tax year or fiscal period ending in 2013 or later.
For interest on a balance owing for any tax year or fiscal period, the CRA will consider only the amounts that accrued during the 10 calendar years before the year in which you make your request. For example, your request made in 2023 must relate to interest that accrued in 2013 or later.
Taxpayer relief requests can be made online using the CRA's My Account, My Business Account (MyBA), or Represent a Client digital services:
- My Account: After signing in select "Accounts and payments" then "Request relief of penalties and interest."
- MyBA or Represent a Client: After signing in, on the MyBA overview page, select the appropriate program from the navigation menu, then select the correct account. Finally select "Request relief of penalties and interest" under the "Request" heading.
You can fill out Form RC4288, Request for Taxpayer Relief – Cancel or Waive Penalties and Interest and send it with one of the following ways:
- online with My Account: select "Submit documents" under the "Correspondence" section
- online with MyBA or Represent a Client: select "Submit documents" from the banner at the top of the page
- by mail to the designated office, as shown on the last page of the form, based on your place of residence.
For information on the "Submit Documents online" service, go to Submit documents online.
For more details on the required supporting documents, relief from penalties and interest, and other related forms and publications, go to Cancel or waive penalties and interest at the CRA.
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