There are several ways to contact the Canada Revenue Agency. First, if you are registered for the CRA’s My Account platform, there are many functionalities that allow you to interact with the CRA online for tasks such as changing your address or submitting documents. Otherwise, the CRA provides several telephone numbers:

• 1-800-959-5525 for general business inquiries
• 1-800-267-2384 for general charities inquiries
• 1-855-330-3305 for inquiries related to individuals
• 1-800-665-0354 for the hearing-impaired and speech-impaired who use teletypewriters

Several other phone numbers are related to specific tax issues. If you have received a document from the CRA, there's usually a phone number indicated on it, often with a contact person and extension number.

How to Access Your My Service Canada Account

My Service Canada Account is an online service offered by the Government of Canada that allows Canadians to access their information, including tax information slips, Canada Pension Plan contribution statements, and Employment Insurance information. To access your My Service Canada Account, take the following steps:

1. Visit the My Service Canada Account login page.
2. Click the Continue to Sign-in Partner button.
3. Click the graphic icon for your financial institution and sign in using your online banking login credentials.
4. Alternatively, click the Continue to GCKey button on the My Service Canada Account login page.
5. Enter your GCKey username and password, and click the Sign In button.
6. If you don’t already have a GCKey, click the Sign Up button to create one.

Business Accounts With the CRA

As a business owner, a CRA business account provides you with the capacity to access a number of your accounts with the CRA, interact with the tax authorities and generally ensure all of your business information is up-to-date. You can access payroll, corporation income taxes, excise taxes, and excise duties accounts. Except in Québec, where Revenue Quebec administers the GST/HST, you also have access to your GST/HST account.

Use the portal to perform just about any task you want for your tax accounts. File a tax return, view expected and filed returns, adjust a return, file a rebate request, file, and view elections, and get your account balance and activities. The My Business Account feature also allows you to manage and view your direct deposit transactions and installment payments. My Business Account is available seven days a week, 21 hours per day. The agency takes the service offline for a three-hour break overnight for maintenance activity.

Mobile App

The CRA also has a mobile app for Canadian business owners to use Called BizApp. This app offers you access to the same basic services you get through your business account, only through a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. The connection is secure, so you don’t have to worry about intrusions into your private data when working on your phone. 

How Do You Access the Portal?

To get access, first register for a CRA ID and password if you don’t have one already. You also need to know your Business Number. The CRA partners with a number of major Canadian financial institutions called sign-in partners. This allows you to sign in to the portal using the same ID and password as your bank account to access My Business Account.

Depending on the size of your business, you may not be the person who actually prepares and files the returns on a day-to-day basis. If that’s the case, you can give representatives acting on your behalf, whether employees or an outside accountant, access to your accounts. There are various ways to give access to different people, depending on whether they are outside professionals or internal employees.

At any time, you can change the level of authorization for existing representatives or revoke authorizations altogether. You can do this using the authorized or managed representatives service in My Business Account. Online authorization updates take effect immediately or on the effective date you choose. If you don’t want to handle this online, you can send Form RC59 to your local tax office.

The My Business Account feature is a great way to simplify your interactions with the CRA. As a small business owner, you can enjoy the convenience of being able to attend to your tax matters outside of regular business hours.