Canada Revenue Has A New Online Mail Service For Individuals

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is diving into the 21^st century with most everything going online. Direct deposit will be required by April 2016, and I believe the days of paper notices of assessment will be long gone very soon. CRA has asked tax preparers (especially Efiler®’s) to get permission to give CRA your email. Once you do that, the days of paper NOAs is gone.

What Is This New Service Called Online Mail?

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has introduced a new service that allows individuals to receive some of their correspondence from the CRA directly in My Account. Once you are registered for online mail, eligible correspondence will no longer be printed and mailed to you. Instead, an email notification will be sent to the email address you provided when new mail is available for you to view in My Account. For security reasons, the email notification does not contain any links.

What are the advantages of registering for online mail?

Paperless—viewing your correspondence online means less paper clutter around the home. The CRA even sends you an email notification when there is new mail in your secure online account, so you won’t miss a thing.

Convenient—when there is correspondence to view, you only need to log in to My Account to see it. You can access your tax information whenever you need it, wherever you are. To register, go to My Account at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/esrvc-srvce/tx/ndvdls/myccnt/menu-eng.html.

Secure—the CRA takes the protection of Canadians’ tax information very seriously. The CRA uses the same high levels of security that financial institutions use to protect your banking information.

What correspondence items can be viewed online?

Currently, only the following correspondence items will generate an email notification when a new item is ready to be viewed in My Account:

• Notices of assessment (issued after February 9, 2015)
• Notices of reassessment (issued after February 9, 2015)

You will continue to receive other correspondence items from us on paper through the mail.

As more correspondence items become available, you will be automatically registered to receive them online rather than by mail. We will send you email notifications when correspondence is available for you to view in My Account.

How do I register for online mail?

There are three ways you can register to receive online mail from the CRA:

• Enter your email address on your T1 Income Tax and Benefit return;
• Log in to My Account and select “Manage online mail”; or
• Contact our Individual Income Tax and Trust Enquiries by telephone at 1-800-959-8281.

Which Email Should You Use?

Individuals should provide the email address of an account they regularly access.

The email address you provide is the one we will use to advise you that you have new mail available for viewing. While the CRA will not share any personal information by email, it is highly recommended that you provide your own personal email address to protect your privacy.

What happens after I register?

Once you are registered, the CRA will send a registration confirmation email to the address you provided. Depending on the method you used to register, you should receive your confirmation email within the following timelines:

• Immediately if you used the “Manage online mail” service in My Account.
• Immediately if you called the Individual Income Tax and Trust Enquiries call centre.
• Within 8 business days if you filed your return electronically.
• Within 4-6 weeks if you filed your return by paper.

If you do not receive a registration confirmation email, log in to My Account and review the email address in your profile. If the email address is incorrect, update it. If it is correct, check your junk mail or trash folder for an email from the CRA.

As with your mailing address, it is your responsibility to ensure we have your correct email address at all times.

Similar to the system employed by banks, no sensitive or confidential information is sent to you by email, nor do we request to receive such information from you through email.

When your new mail is available online, you will be advised to log in to My Account, to view and, if required, print it. My Account is the only place to view your online mail.