Individual Tax Series: CRA My Account: Simplifying Tax Management for Canadians

Rylan Kaliel
Oct 14
10 min read

Hands using a calculator and holding a pen near papers and a laptop in an office setting. Focus on calculation work.

Managing your taxes efficiently has never been easier, thanks to the CRA My Account portal. This secure online platform allows taxpayers to access their tax information, manage payments, track refunds, and handle various tax-related tasks from the comfort of their home. In this blog, we will explore the features of CRA My Account, how to register, and why it’s a valuable tool for taxpayers.

What is CRA My Account and What are the Benefits?

CRA My Account is an online portal provided by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that gives individuals access to their tax and benefit information. It enables taxpayers to perform essential tasks without the need to call or visit the CRA in person.

CRA My Account is used extensively in preparing your tax returns and in managing your tax obligations and tax planning throughout the year. As will be discussed below in Key Features of CRA My Account in detail, this portal includes your tax slips for each year, past notices of assessment and notice of reassessments, all of your CRA correspondences and more. Having access to CRA My Account allows you to confirm a significant portion of your tax information, which eases the tax return process and allows you to make better decisions when it comes to your taxes.

Having access to your CRA My Account also enables the Auto-fill features when it comes to the preparation of your tax return on most tax preparation softwares. With this feature, you can automatically populate your tax return with key information from your past notice of assessments, tax slips, and other key tax information. This will greatly reduce the time required to prepare your tax return and reduce errors in the preparation of your return.

You can also submit information to the CRA through CRA My Account, which will help you address any questions the CRA may have for you. The use of this feature allows information to be received quickly by the CRA, which can reduce the time it takes for the CRA to complete their review and reduce assessment times.

Additionally, having access to your CRA My Account can allow you to authorize representatives to access your information with the CRA. This can enable tax professionals and other key advisors to view this information to assist in both the preparation of your tax return and to advise on tax planning matters and to submit documents to the CRA on your behalf. This process of authorizing representatives will be discussed more in How to Authorize Representatives below.

Given these significant benefits, it is highly recommended that everyone ensure they have access to their CRA My Account so they can keep on top of their tax information and enable tax professionals to review this information on their behalf.

Key Features of CRA My Account

As was discussed above, there are significant benefits available through having access to your CRA My Account. Some of the key features below include.

Viewing Tax Returns and Notices of Assessment

This feature allows you to review your past tax returns that were filed, the CRA’s notice of assessment, and any notice of reassessments the CRA applied to your tax return. A key part of this feature is the ability to review the notice of reassessment, which will include both the details of the original return filed and the changed values that the CRA applied as part of their notice of reassessment. See our Amending Tax Returns and Handling Reassessments blog post for more details on reassessments.

Viewing CRA Correspondence

This feature will allow you to quickly review any mail the CRA has sent you. This can be extremely valuable, as it allows you to keep on top of CRA reviews and audits, dates for notices of assessments and reassessments, and other critical correspondence. One key document could be your instalment reminders, which will inform you of how much you are required to pay in tax instalments and when the payments were due, as was discussed in our Tax Instalments blog post.

Accessing Tax Slips

This feature allows you to review your tax slips received for each tax year. This can include a review of specific tax slips, such as a T4 Statement of Remuneration Paid slip, which will detail how much your employer paid you and what deductions were taken against you during the year or review all of the slips for the year in one document. This feature assists greatly in both the Auto-fill feature and in any amendments to your return that arise as a result of a missed or changes tax slip.

Checking Benefit and Credit Payments

This feature allows you to review payment amounts and dates for the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), GST/HST credits, and other government benefits. This will allow you to understand the amounts of these benefits you are expected to receive and when they are expected to be received, enabling you to make better decisions with the money received from these benefits.

Updating Personal Information

This feature allows you to change your address, direct deposit details, or marital status. Ensuring you maintain accurate personal information is critical to filing your tax return and for tax planning, as these details may affect the benefits received, tax rates applicable to you in a year, and how your refunds and benefits are received.

Tracking Refunds and Balances Owing

This feature allows you to check the status of your tax refund and any outstanding balances. This can help you track how much the CRA owes you or how much you owe the CRA. Keeping on top of these amounts can ensure you don’t miss any amounts owing so you can prevent unnecessary interest and potential penalties and manage your payment of tax instalments effectively.

Managing RRSP and TFSA Limits

This feature allows you to view your contribution room for Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs). With respect to your RRSP, these are extremely important balances for tax planning, as it will help you understand how much you can contribute to your RRSP in a year without incurring penalties, allowing for a greater reduction to your taxes payable (as was discussed in our RRSP Contributions blog post).

With respect to your TFSA, this helps you best manage the amount you can contribute to your TFSA without incurring penalty. While the TFSA does not provide a deduction on your contribution like an RRSP would, it does provide tax-free growth, which will be discussed more in an upcoming blog post.

Submitting Documents Securely

This feature allows you to upload tax documents directly to the CRA for faster processing. This includes the uploading of PDFs and other similar documents to respond to CRA queries or submit critical tax documents. This feature is also available to tax professionals who will be preparing and submitting documents on your behalf. Using this feature can significantly reduce the time required for the CRA to assess your return.

Setting Up Payment Arrangements

This feature can help you manage tax payments and set up installment plans if necessary. This will help you pay your tax obligations in an effective and secure manner, reducing potential interest and penalties from applying.

Amending Your Tax Return

As was discussed in our Amending Tax Returns and Handling CRA Reassessments blog post, this feature will allow you to amend your tax return directly through your CRA My Account. This feature allows you to quickly amend your return, provide supporting documentation, and have these amendments reviewed and assessed faster than other methods.

How to Register for CRA My Account

Registering for CRA My Account is a simple process:

Confirm you need to register: First attempt to login to your CRA My Account, as you may have previously registered, so confirming this is the first key step in the process. Login options will be discussed more in step 4 below. Where you have not previously registered, follow the below steps to register.
Gather your documents: You will need several key documents to register for CRA My Account, including:
1. Your social insurance number
2. Date of birth
3. Amounts you reported on your most recent tax return, which must have been filed and assessed by the CRA and it is your most recent tax return in the last 2 years
4. For faster access you will also need a mobile device with a working camera and one of the following documents:
  1. Your Canadian passport
  2. Your Canadian driver’s license
  3. Your provincial or territorial ID card
Go to the CRA Website: Visit the CRA My Account login page.
Use a Sign-In Option: Choose a login option, which can include:
1. Sign-In Partner: This option allows you login through your bank credentials. A vast majority of banks in Canada are accepted under this option, allowing you to easily log in to your CRA My Account through this feature. See the CRA’s Register for a CRA Account site, under Choose a sign-in option to register for details of what banks are accepted.
2. CRA user ID and password: This option allows you to create a CRA user ID and password that can be used to sign in. Under this option, you will have to remember both the CRA user ID and password to login with this information.
3. Provincial partner (BC, AB): In British Columbia and Alberta, you can login with provincial partners, which include your BC Services Card or your Alberta.ca Account. These are similar to using Sign-In Partner, where you will simply be prompted to login to these platforms to access your CRA My Account.
Verify Your Identity: Provide personal details, such as those noted in step 2 above. Additionally, you will typically be required to either:
1. Submit a photo of yourself and your ID document: This involves using your mobile device to submit a photo of yourself and your ID document to confirm your identify.
2. Wait for your CRA security code: This will often include a document being mailed to your physical address with a code, which once received you will login and input this code in your CRA My Account.

Please note that prior to the completion of this step you will be granted limited access to your CRA My Account. Completion of this step will result in you gaining full access to your CRA My Account, which is highly recommended as the limited access does not provide many of the features noted above in Key Features of CRA My Account.

Enroll in multi-factor authentication: You will be required to register for one of three multi-factor authentication methods, which include:
1. An authenticator app: This will provide you with a code each time you login to your CRA My Account, which you will input in order to access the account.
2. By phone: You can request to have a code sent to your phone that will be required to be entered to access your CRA My Account.
3. With a passcode grid: The CRA’s system will generate a unique passcode grid that you will need to save or print. Upon logging in CRA My Account will request one of the passcodes from the grid to login. This passcode grid will expire after 18 months.

Subject to some delays, mainly in step 5, you should now have access to your CRA My Account with no limitations to your access. If you have difficulties with any of the steps it is advised you call the CRA at 1-800-959-8281 to get assistance with your registration.

How to Authorize Representatives

Authorizing representatives to access your CRA My Account can be extremely helpful in the preparation of your tax returns and assisting in tax planning. It is important to understand, before authorizing a representative, what are the different levels of authorization a representative can receive.

Level 1 Allow access to information only: This authorization allows your representative to review information only, not to submit any documents on your behalf.
Level 2 Allow access to information and to make certain account changes: This authorization allows your representative to both review information and to submit documents on your behalf.
Level 3 Delegate authority, allow access to information, and to make certain account changes (business only): This authorization offers the same authorization as level 2, but also allows them to perform similar features that are exclusive to yourself only, such as authorizing other representatives. This feature is limited to business accounts only, so is generally not applicable for most persons.

There can be certain differences in what authorization is available for different persons, such as non-residents and persons without a business account may not be able to offer level 3 authorization. It is extremely important you understand the level of authorization you would like to provide before proceeding with authorizing the representative.

There are a few options to authorize a representative, which are as follows:

Authorize your representative through your CRA My Account: Under this method you would:
1. Login to your CRA My Account
2. Select your individual account
3. Navigate to your Profile
4. In the “Authorized Representative” section, click “+Add”
5. Enter the RepID of your representative and confirm the identify included in the RepID (this will have to be provided by the representative)
6. Select the level of authorization you’d like go grant
7. Enter an expiry date for this authorization (if desired)
8. Re-review the information, approve the confirmation, and select “Submit”
Accept an authorization request through CRA My Account: Under this method you would
1. Provide your social insurance number and legal first and last name to your representative
2. Your representative will submit an authorization request for your account
3. Login to your CRA My Account
4. Select your individual account
5. Navigate to your Profile
6. In the “Authorized Representative” section, click “Confirm pending authorizations” and confirm your representative’s request

Historically, form AUT-01 Authorize a Representative for Offline Access was also used as an authorization method, which involved the completion of a form, signed by yourself, and this document being mailed to the CRA. This method has significant limitations to access, such as only providing information to be discussed over the phone with the CRA, no online access is granted. Further, there have been some discussions of phasing this approach out. Given this, this method is not being discussed in this blog.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Taxpayers should be mindful of these common mistakes when using CRA My Account:

Not Keeping Login Information Secure: Use strong passwords and avoid sharing login details.
Ignoring Account Notifications: The CRA may send important messages regarding tax deadlines or benefit changes.
Failing to Update Personal Information: Keep your address, banking, and marital status current to avoid delays in payments or correspondence.
Mailing documents instead of submitting through CRA My Account: This method can provide longer wait times to have your documents assessed and as such is inferior to submitting documents via CRA My Account.

As was noted above, there are significant benefits to using CRA My Account which can both improve your tax situation and reduce errors and other issues. Given this, it is highly recommended that you have access to your CRA My Account.

Summary

CRA My Account is an essential tool for taxpayers looking to simplify tax management and stay on top of their financial obligations. By leveraging its features, Canadians can access tax information, track payments, and make updates conveniently and securely.

Stay tuned for our next blog, where we will discuss CRA reviews and audits, including how to prepare and respond effectively.

KLV Accounting, a Calgary-based accounting firm, is here to help. Contact us today to enhance your financial strategy, minimize your taxes, and drive business success! For a free consultation, call us at 403-679-3772 or email us at info@klvaccounting.ca.