Why You Need to Think About Using CRA’s Online Services? 

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has joined the 21^st Century when it comes to giving you access to your tax information online. You can get your notices of assessment, RRSP contribution limit, and more via their My Account and Online Mail, and they even have an app called MyCRA. These allow easy access, and faster access than snail mail, to your tax information that CRA has for you.

Before we get into why you should use these services, let’s give a quick overview.

My Account

My Account allows you to track your refund, view or change your return, check your benefit and credit payments, view your RRSP limit, set up direct deposit, receive online mail, and so much more. My Account is a secure portal. This is for your personal taxes, and not for business accounts, such as GST/HST.

My Business Account

My Business Account is a secure online portal that provides an opportunity to interact electronically with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on various business accounts. Business accounts include GST/HST (except for GST/HST accounts administered by Revenu Québec), payroll, corporation income taxes, excise taxes, excise duties, and more.

Online Mail

Online mail is a simple to use service that allows individuals to receive most of their mail, like their notice of assessment or benefit notices, from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) directly in My Account.

MyCRA App

MyCRA is a mobile app for individual taxpayers where you can securely view and update key portions of your tax and personal information.

For step-by-step instructions on setting up your CRA user ID and password, go to Registration process to access the CRA login services.

All of the above are:

• Convenient – It is available 21 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Easy to use – After registering, simply log in with your CRA user ID and password.
• Fast – Information is up-to-the-minute and transactions are processed immediately.
• Secure – The CRA user ID and password are just part of the security.

It is possible to see information in My Account before you receive the official document from the CRA. For example, if the CRA reassessed your return, you will see details of the reassessment in My Account before you receive your notice of reassessment in the mail. This is because the most up-to-date information is displayed immediately in My Account, while the notice goes through several manual processes before you receive it by mail.

Correspondence that you can receive electronically

Some examples of correspondence currently available through online services include:

• notices of assessment (NOA)
• notices of reassessment (NORA)
• benefit notices and slips
• T1 adjustment notices
• instalment reminders and payments made
• income tax and benefit return status
• tax-free savings account and registered retirement savings plan contribution limits
• buy-back amounts for the Home Buyers’ Plan and the Lifelong Learning Plan
• GST/HST return status
• Account balances
• And more…

The above are just some of the services that are currently available, and CRA is looking at adding more all the time. CRA finally wants you to be able to access this information electronically rather than get it in the mail.

Let’s face it mail theft is on the rise and will continue to do so as long as we have those community mailboxes; those mailboxes are not secured in any fashion. Online services allow you to have access to your tax information at any time, and you can authorize others to access it on your behalf, such as your tax preparer. This allows them access to your notices of assessment, T-slips, etc., allowing you to relax as to whether or not you got them. It also allows you to check to see if you didn’t get a T4, or other slip before you do your taxes.

I’m am going to suggest to all my clients this year to sign up for My Account, Online Mail and MyCRA App, it’s just the right thing to do.

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