Why you should register for CRA and RQ My Business Account (and how to do it)
With all data moving to the cloud these days and ubiquitous online access to banking, customer and supplier portals, it makes sense that Revenue Canada (CRA) and Revenue Quebec (RQ) have followed suit. Considerable resources have been spent by the revenue agencies on developing their online portals and encouraging both individual taxpayers and businesses to move the majority of their tax related interactions online (almost every accountant conference has an appearance by a CRA representative talking about the improvements to their online portal and imploring accountants to convince their clients to make the switch).
The upfront investment has resulted in significant cost savings for CRA/RQ (postage costs alone have dropped dramatically) while improving accuracy and perhaps most importantly increasing the effectiveness of tax collection efforts. CRA personnel have been able to move away from verifying calculations and manually reviewing tax returns to more value added analysis which has allowed them to identify tax miscreants with higher accuracy.
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Benefits of Registering for My Business Account with CRA and RQ
For both individual taxpayers and small business owners, there are numerous benefits to registering:
Access to Tax Information and History
Registering for My Business Account with both CRA and Revenu Québec (RQ) gives you access to:
Payroll deductions at source (DAS) paid
T4 summaries and slips
GST/HST and QST returns filed
Payments made and instalments
Corporate tax accounts and balances
Non-resident accounts
And much more
Centralized Access to Tax Documents
Review all tax documents, including notices of assessment, in one place â no more saving, scanning, or losing critical files when you need them most.
Stay on Top of Your Tax Obligations
Keep track of filing and payment deadlines to avoid penalties, reduce interest charges, and prevent issues with information requests or audits due to missed or overlooked mail.
Submit Documents Online
Submit supporting documents for open cases, queries, or authorizations online instead of faxing or mailing them.
Note: CRA still uses fax for most correspondence, while RQ allows secure document uploads. This is usually arranged with a specific representative.
Reconcile Payments More Easily
Access statements of account to reconcile payments between various tax accounts. For example, GST/HST or QST refunds may be applied to payroll or corporate tax balances so being able to view and track this helps simplify reconciliation.
Access to Key Year-End Balances
View year-end balances such as:
Capital and non-capital losses
Refundable dividend tax on hand (RDTOH)
Capital dividend account (CDA) balances
Once verified, these are accessible through your CRA business account.
Share Access with Your Accountant
Use CRAâs âRepresent a Clientâ to authorize your accountant to access tax documents, reconcile balances, and retrieve notices directly.
File and Pay Sales Tax Online
GST/QST returns can be filed using Revenue Quebecâs portal, which generates a payment code for online banking payments (look for "Revenue Quebec download code" in your bankâs tax payment section).
CRA allows online GST/HST filing and payments, which is especially helpful when expecting a refund.
File Year-End Salary Declarations Online
File T4, RL-1 slips, and summaries online which can be easier than filling out forms by hand and mailing them in.
Access and Manage RQ Payments and Obligations
RQ provides payment codes for GST, QST, and corporate taxes. These can be retrieved from your business account.
Note: Make sure to use the âMy Business Accountâ link, as RQ has several different login types.
Update Your Quebec Business Registration
Once registered in Quebec, access the Registraire des entreprises through Clic SĂ©qur Entreprise. You can update addresses, file your annual declaration, and view business details.
How to Register for My Business Account
Online registration is relatively straightforward.
CRA Registration
Identity verification can often be done through a banking partner listed on the CRA registration page.
Have your notices of assessment on hand.
CRA will either mail you a security code or allow you to retrieve it by phone.
Go to the CRA login page and click Register under My Business Account.
Revenu Québec (RQ) Registration
Access My Account for Business on the RQ site and follow the instructions to register.
Youâll be given a username and password â itâs essential to save these immediately (copy and paste or download), as recovering them requires calling RQ, which can be time-consuming.
RQ may also call you directly to verify your identity.
Why It Matters
Registration may take a bit of time, but it gives you significantly more control over your tax obligations â a major source of stress for many business owners and their accountants.
