CRA My Account is a secure platform created by the Canada Revenue Agency that allows you to access your personal and business income tax information in a safe manner. Having the ability to view all of your tax information in one place is more convenient, as it allows you to plan and prepare for tax debts and payments and can help you stay on top of your taxes and financial health.
How To Open A CRA My Account?
There are two ways to open a CRA My Account. First, you can create a “My Account for Individuals, and sign up through the CRA’s website. The second option is to access sign-in services through a CRA partner, most often a financial institution, like a bank.
Method 1 – My Account for Individuals
A secure portal, My Account is for individuals that wish to view their personal income tax and benefit information. My Account allows you to handle your tax tasks completely online. The My Account option for individuals can be created through the Canada Revenue Agency’s website. Before you can register, you’ll need to have the following information:
- Social Insurance Number
- Date of Birth
- Current Postal Code
- Income Tax and Benefit Returns
You will need to input the above information when you register for a CRA My Account. On that webpage, you can create a username and password to log in with, as well as security questions and answers to protect your account.
Do not use the same password as you do for banking, loans, utilities, or other websites.
It’s important to make your security questions difficult for anyone other than yourself, as CRA accounts have fallen victim to data breaches in the past. At this stage, you have limited access to your tax information.
Once you finish creating your security questions and log-in info, you’ll be given a CRA security code. Then, you can visit the CRA log-in page and log into the portal with your username and password, and input the security code when prompted. After inputting your security code, you will have greater access to your tax information.
Learn how to file your taxes as a couple.
Method 2 – CRA Login Services with a Sign-in Partner
Similar to creating an account for CRA My Account, the Sign-in Partner option allows you to sign in to your CRA account using information that you’ve already used for a log-in portal with a partner, usually a bank or other financial institution.
The CRA introduced this option to make online tax services more accessible and convenient for users to access. By allowing people to use a bank credential for their tax information, their financial situation can be accessed through one login, resulting in one less username and password to worry about.
It’s also important to note that the CRA does not share your tax information with your financial institution, despite having them as a sign-in partner.
Also, the CRA does not share your tax information with credit bureaus and will not affect your credit score.
The CRA allows the following sign-in partners to be eligible for login:
- Affinity Credit Union
- Alberta Treasury Branches
- BMO Financial Group
- CIBC Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
- Conexus Credit Union
- Desjardins Group (Caisse Alliance, Caisses Populaires, UNI)
- National Bank of Canada
- RBC Royal Bank
- Scotiabank
- Servus Credit Union
- Simplii Financial
- Tangerine
- TD Bank Group
- Vancity
Benefits Of Opening A CRA My Account
Opening a CRA My Account gives you greater financial health and knowledge since you are more aware of your tax situation. Here is a more extensive list of benefits.
- View all of your income tax returns, Notices of Assessment, and tax information, including T4, T4A, T4A(P), T4E, T4(OAS), and T5, all at once.
- Track your tax refund and make changes to your tax return
- Set up pre-authorized debit payments
- View all correspondence from the CRA
- Available for use 21 hours per day, 7 days a week
- Information is updated frequently and payments are processed immediately
- Update your personal information as it changes for your CRA profile, including home address, contact information, marital status, and banking information.
- View your RRSP deduction limit, TFSA contribution room, disability tax credit, and the status of Canada Fed Deposit programs like the Canada Child Benefits (CCB)and GST/HST credit, and .
- Submit financial documents to the CRA online
- Create a payment plan if you have tax debt and owe the CRA money in taxes
- Option to auto-fill forms with your information housed by the portal
- Greater comfort and convenience in having all of your tax information in one place
Find out the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction.
Final Thoughts About Opening a CRA My Account
Creating a CRA account is a step towards greater financial awareness. To achieve financial success and sustainability, it’s important to be aware of your financial situation, including debts owed, tax information, and correspondence with the CRA.
Additional Reading
CRA My Account FAQs
Is there a CRA My Account app?
- View your tax information, including your owed taxes, tax refunds, benefits, and income tax information
- Access resources such as a Benefits calculator, charitable donation tax credit calculator and list of charities, and other support services
- Manage your contact information
