eForms News

It has come to our attention that the CRA XML submission site fails to validate XML submissions when the filer name (transmitter name) contains the "&" character. Until such time as CRA resolves this issue, you can prevent the error by opening the Transmitter Setup dialog in eForms, and replacing "&" with "and" in the "Name line 1" field under "Transmitter Information". You will need to do this once for each eForms user who generates XML files for submission to CRA.

Additionally, due to changes made by CRA to the XML submission process, CRA now requires that XML submissions for previous years must include the 2024 version of the T619 record. We are working with CRA to minimize the impact of this requirement, and will post further details here as they become available.

And finally, the XML submission site which was used to upload XML submissions in the past has been deactivated. We have updated eForms accordingly, and CRA has (on our suggestion) updated the deactivated page to redirect filers to the new XML submission site by clicking the "Internet file transfer application - Disclaimer" link, as shown in the image below.

This release corrects an issue on the User Administration screen where an error message would appear when the "Copy User" function is used.

This is an important update which applies to users of eForms Enterprise. You will need to install this update if you plan to use eForms Enterprise to distribute recipient slips or forms via email; specifically, this applies to sending emails using the SMTP option.

eForms version 2024.106 corrects a problem where the recipient's email will appear to be sent from a sender named 'Temp'. This issue only applies if you send email using the SMTP option, it does not apply when sending email using either the Gmail or Microsoft options. However, we recommend that you install this update if you plan to distribute slips or forms by email, in the event that you decide to use SMTP option .

This update is not required for users of the Free, Lite, Basic or Standard versions of eForms, as the email function in not part of these versions

The AvanTax eForms Production Release, version 2024.105, is now available for purchase and download. The latest eForms release can be downloaded from the downloads page on this website.

What's new in the eForms 2024.105 Production Release:

- All forms and XML output have been updated for the 2024 taxation year

- eForms now has a process oriented Home Page, on which all steps of a standard information return and eForms' most used features can be found

- Toolbars have been redesigned to be more easily understood

- We have improved the email functionality of eForms Enterprise; in addition to standard SMTP configuration, eForms Enterprise now also includes dedicated logins for Gmail and Microsoft hosted email accounts

- We have added the Employee's Second CPP/QPP Contributions (Box 16A & Box 17A) to the T4 form and Cotisation supplémentaire au RRQ (Box B.B) to the RL-1 form

- We have implemented CRA's 2024 revisions to the T619 - Transmittal Record portion of CRA XML files

- We have included in-program links to our QuickHelps Videos. The QuickHelps Videos, alongside our QuickHelps Pages, will answer the most common questions asked by AvanTax eForms users

As a result of systems maintenance, CRA's XML submission service will not be available from 3 am on Monday, December 2, 2024, until 6 am on Monday, January 13, 2025 (Eastern Time).

AvanTax eForms 2024.103 is now available for download. This eForms release resolves an issue which could occur when installing eForms 2024.102 as a Network Administrator installation over an existing eForms 2024.100 Network Administrator installation.

Release 2024.103 makes no other changes to AvanTax eForms, and you do not need to install it if eForms 2024.102 is running without issue.