It's the same setup used for employers to direct deposit your paycheque. I'm as leery of big brother as you are, but unless you are in serious "tax deficit" situation with Revenue Canada, you have nothing to worry about.
There were a few "public servants" that were still getting their cheques in the mail up to last year. One of my employees was a little upset that he would have to adapt to the new system.But lost/missing or way behind cheques were all too common just a few years ago. Apparently much better now that the bunch in Miramichi have been re-assigned to issuing our cheques. Bah....I have been fine with the direct deposit for almost 30 years.Taxman is good.....fill online and money in the bank within a few days. But then sure if you owe them money they can take it, you don't have to submit your info for that, they'll find it themselves. You do not want xxx signature at the bottom of a letter from the taxlady but then you are probably a small fish in the pond, she only goes after the big ones.:eek1
If your worried about the unintended consequences of CCRA having your banking information, don't be...which is to say nothing really changes, if CCRA wants your money for back taxes they will have access to your accounts and will drain them faster than you can say WTF? If you establish two accounts, make one joint with your kid and have sole control over it, then shuffle your tax return to this account. Makes it harder for CCRA to acquire your funds if you owe taxes because the funds are not only yours and they have no legit way to take money from another person who doesn't owe them money. I mean just off the top of my head an all, having never had any issues with revenue Canada.
There are 2 types of joint accounts. Make sure that the joint account is a joint "AND" account rather than a joint "OR" account. There is a noticeable difference when the CRA tries to take what they think they are due. They can try to freeze or steal from an "and" account, but the bank will stop it unless both parties are named. Been there, and survived that rather well, thanks to the dumb luck of having the correct type of joint account with my wife (our mortgage and bills account). In the end the CRA owed me rather than their claims of me owing them an estimated $30k.
CRA has been able to do that for YEARS. Don't bother with two accounts. All accounts are linked to a SIN or drivers license. CRA has this info and they actively look for it. I know this FROM EXPERIENCE. Cash is king. Buy a laundry machine and start washing it. BTW, its no longer CCRA, it is CRA.
