Giving me access to your CRA account.

What authorization is for

Without it, I can prepare a return from the documents you give me, and that is the whole of it. If the CRA sends a letter, you read it to me over the phone. If a slip is missing, we find out when the assessment comes back different. If you want to know what you owe, you call and wait.

With it, I can see the same screens the CRA sees. That changes the work in ways that are not obvious until you have watched it:

• The slips the CRA already has. T4s, T5s, T3s, RRSP contributions and tuition amounts can be pulled directly into the return, so a slip that arrived at an old address does not turn into a reassessment nine months later
• Your carryforward balances. RRSP room, unused capital losses, tuition, and Home Buyers' Plan repayments as the CRA has them recorded, which is not always what you were expecting
• What is actually owed. Account balances, instalment requirements and payments received, rather than reconstructing it from memory and old statements
• Notices of assessment and reassessment, including the ones that were filed away unopened
• Correspondence handled directly. When the CRA asks for a receipt or queries a claim, I can see the request and respond, instead of the letter sitting on a counter for three weeks
• Adjustments and objections submitted electronically rather than by mail

For a business, the same applies across the HST, payroll and corporate accounts, which is usually where the timing problems live.

The levels of access, and what you keep

Authorization is not all or nothing. You choose the level.

Level 1	Access to information only. I can see the account and speak to the CRA about it, and change nothing
Level 2	Access to information, and the ability to make certain account changes. This is what allows adjustments and filings to be submitted rather than only viewed
Level 3	Business accounts only. Delegated authority, meaning the representative can also authorize other representatives. Rarely appropriate for an outside accountant

Personal, trust and non-resident accounts have levels 1 and 2. Business accounts have all three.

Three things worth knowing, because people reasonably hesitate before handing an accountant access to their tax account:

• You can see everyone who currently has access, at any time, in your own CRA account
• You can remove that access yourself, in a couple of clicks, without telling me first and without a form
• You can set an expiry date when you grant it, so it lapses on its own

If level 1 is where you are comfortable starting, start there. It covers most of what makes the work better, and it can be raised later.

What EFILE is, and why it is not the same thing

EFILE is the CRA system that lets an approved preparer transmit your return electronically, straight out of professional tax software. It is not the same as NETFILE, which is the service individuals use to file their own returns.

Becoming an electronic filer is not automatic. You apply, the CRA runs a suitability screening, and if approved you are issued an EFILE number and password that has to be renewed each year and can be withdrawn. I am a registered electronic filer in good standing, which is what allows returns to be transmitted from here rather than printed and posted.

What that means in practice:

• Confirmation on transmission. The CRA acknowledges receipt immediately, so there is no question later about whether a return was filed and when
• Faster assessment, and faster refunds, than paper
• Fewer transcription errors, since nothing is being keyed in a second time at the other end
• Business authorizations can be submitted through EFILE as well, which is often the quickest route to access on a corporate file

The signature page

Before I transmit anything, you sign an authorization page: T183 for a personal return, T183CORP for a corporate one. It confirms you have reviewed the return and authorize it to be filed.

That page is not sent to the CRA. I keep it on file for six years, and the CRA can ask to see it. Keeping your own copy is sensible. Its practical effect is that nothing gets filed in your name without your explicit sign-off on the numbers, which is the point of it.

How to authorize me

If you already have a CRA account

This is the fastest route and takes about two minutes.

1. Sign in to your CRA account
2. On the Welcome page, select your Individual account for personal tax, or your Business account for a corporation, HST or payroll
3. Select Profile from the left menu
4. Under authorized representatives, select Add
5. Enter business number 774 856 769, choose the level of access, and confirm

Access is effective immediately. Entering the business number authorizes the firm rather than one individual, which is what keeps things working if you call and I am with someone else.

If I submit the request instead

I can send an authorization request from my end, and you approve it. How you approve it depends on your situation:

• Confirm in your CRA account. The request appears under pending authorizations and you accept it. This is the normal route
• Provide tax information. If you would rather not register, you can instead give me a figure from a notice of assessment for a return processed at least six months ago. That serves as the verification
• Signed consent. Where neither of the above is possible, I may be prompted to obtain a signed consent from you and submit it with the request. The CRA may still telephone you to verify it

Registering for a CRA account

If you have never set one up, it is worth doing regardless of who prepares your return. It is where your notices of assessment, slips, benefit information and account balances live, and having it saves a phone queue every time a question comes up.

Personal, My Account

You can sign in with a CRA user ID and password, or through a Sign-In Partner using your own bank's login, which most people find simpler because it is one less password.

On verification you have a choice. Verifying with photo identification gives access immediately. The alternative is a security code posted to your address, which arrives in the mail and takes a week or two, so if a deadline is close, choose the first one.

Business, My Business Account

The order matters here, and it is where most people get stuck.

1. Register as an individual first. My Business Account is reached through your own personal CRA credentials. There is no separate company login
2. Then add the business number. Once signed in, select your business account and enter the BN
3. You have to already be on the record. The CRA will only link the account if you are listed as an owner, director, officer or authorized employee for that business number. If you are not, that has to be corrected first

That last point is the one that surprises people. Being a director of the corporation is not, by itself, enough for the CRA to talk to you. Your name has to appear as an owner on the business number record. If you took over from someone who set the company up years ago, this is worth checking before you need it.

For charities and not-for-profits

The same rule applies, and it matters more, because from 1 January 2027 the T3010 has to be filed electronically and that requires My Business Account access.

The person who registers has to be listed as an owner on the charity's business number. Being named as a director on the return is a separate thing. Where a board turns over every couple of years, this quietly breaks: the treasurer who set up the access has moved on, nobody was added, and the organization discovers it in June with a deadline behind it.

The fix is to sort out access in a quiet month, and to add more than one person, so the organization is not depending on a single volunteer's login.

What this does not do

Worth being plain about the boundaries.

• It gives access to your CRA tax accounts. It does not give access to your bank accounts, and no part of this arrangement lets me move your money
• It does not transfer responsibility. The return is filed in your name and remains yours, which is why you sign off on it before it goes
• It does not lock you in. You can withdraw access yourself at any time, from your own account, and you do not need to go through me to do it

Questions