Tax Receipt

[Suzie_Homemaker]

Hey, I have a parent who was asking 4 times for my SIN # in March. I told her that I don't give it out. I've given out many receipts without it and it's always fine. I have a feeling she's a scam artist. I just got another email saying that the receipt isn't valid because there's no SIN. Argh! I am not giving this women my SIN- I don't trust her and she can steal my identity. Can't the CRA just find my SIN if they have my address and name?

She isn't a scan artist. The CRA guidelines for running a day care from your home, tell you that a receipt must have SIN # to be valid. All of the software for parent tax return requires the SIN #. Although many don't like giving it out and miss it off their receipts, once a parent asks for it, you must provide it.
Home day care is one of the few businesses where you do not have to register your business and have a business name provincially. Due to this, you SIN # is how they track your income and it's the only thing that makes your receipt valid if a parent is being audited. You can voluntarily register your business and get a BIN # (business number) instead if you don't wish to give out your SIN but you must give parents one or the other if they request it. The cost of registering your business and getting a BIN is different in each province. Some really expensive and require frequent re-registration, other provinces not so expensive and last longer period of time before re-registration (and payment) needed.
Seriously - the bigger issue is you don't trust your client. If she is trusting you with the care of her child, then you have to trust her with your SIN or BIN - that's a requirement of running a home day care in this country. With all due respect, knowing what we earn, if she was going to steal someone's identity, it's unlikely to be ours.
While I'm sure the CRA can find your SIN can you imagine the fall out if they started doing that. This is clearly outlined as your responsibility to provide.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/tg/p134/p134-16e.pdf