Why doe my middle initial not show on the Verification of personal information page/

[silver40-]

I have added my middle initial to the original turbo tax profile but it does not appear om the verification page

[TurboTax-Terry · Accepted solution]

Your middle name is not required for Netfile purposes.

[twisem02]

I am filing my daughters first return which has to be printed, the middle initial does not show in the return however it is in her profile. Please advise what I need to do to correct. Thanks

[TurboTaxBrenda1]

It doesn't need to be corrected. CRA will have the proper information. You can have her create a CRA "My Account" and make sure that the middle initial is there if she wishes to use it. 

https://turbotax.community.intuit.ca/community/tax-topics/help/how-do-i-register-for-cra-s-my-accoun...

[Auri123]

@TurboTaxBrenda1  They may not need it, but not including your middle name counts as a "name change" for the CRA so if you want to change it later you have to do by mail instead of by phone.

What happened: I had an accountant who did my taxes before I started doing my own and he included my middle name. After I started doing my own with Turbo Tax, I always included my middle initial when filing and it never showed up on the return. Because of this, the CRA thought I had changed my name to remove my middle name. Years later, I changed my first and middle name legally and when I actually asked the CRA to change my name over the phone they wouldn't do it because I had "changed it previously" because Turbo Tax had not included it even though I did...

So I had to send all the material to prove my name change. What a hassle. The best is add your Initial right after your First Name. That way it will show and not count as a name change. My opinion is that Turbo Tax is made for the most general of situations. Anything that deviates slightly from the usual and you'll encounter problems and spend hours trying to figure it out.

[TurboTaxBrenda1]

When you make any changes to your name or address, you need to prove it to CRA so that they can then update your file. This is law and has nothing to do with TurboTax- this has to do with using the CRA NetFile. 

For your own safety to clearly identify each person in Canada the CRA imposes these name change rules. 

Thank you for choosing TurboTax.

[Auri123]

@TurboTaxBrenda1 That is not accurate at all!

Two CRA agents told me on the phone: "when you filed your taxes, your middle name was not included on your tax return so the CRA considered that you changed your name by dropping your middle name".

The CRA did not require any proof whatsoever and that is what happened to me. You only need a "proof" of name change if: 1) you change your name for a second time or 2) if you change both your first and last names together! Otherwise, spelling your name differently on your return or excluding your middle name will count as 1 name change for them.

Please call the CRA and ask them yourself if you wish to verify but please don't spread misinformation!

I've been using Turbo Tax for quite some years and I strongly believe it is made for a majority of people. It covers the most common needs but if anything falls a bit outside of the norm, one will run into issues and waste lots of time. 

The middle name issue is totally Turbo Tax's fault for not including the first letter of the middle name alongside the first name. This can be fixed by writing your first name as: (first name + initial of middle name) although it is silly that the software can't deal with something simple...

[TurboTaxBrenda1]

Thank you for your feedback.