What's New at the CRA?
Over the past several years we have seen a lot of changes at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) – mostly in how they provide service to their clients. Overall, these changes focus on making things more convenient for taxpayers. In particular the CRA has introduced many on-line services with a growing number of self-serve options. This article will highlight some of the enhancements that the CRA has made to their “My Business Account” service and their “Quick Access” service.
What is “My Business Account”?
“My Business Account” is touted by the CRA as being a secure and convenient way for businesses to access their CRA account information online. You can use “My Business Account” if you are a business owner, partner, director, officer or an employee of a corporation provided that your social insurance number (SIN) is on your Business Number file with the CRA. Alternatively, you can allow your trusted BDO advisor to gain access to
the service as your authorized representative.
If you already have access to “My Business Account” you will have found that it allows you to do many things. For instance you can view your banking information, file a GST/HST return and view correspondence, assessments and communication items issued by the CRA.
What is new with “My Business Account”?
Within the past year the CRA has added some new services to “My Business Account”. For example, the CRA has added a service that will allow you to view the status of a GST/HST return. Specifically, this service allows you to see the status, the filing period end and the date that GST/HST returns were filed and received by the CRA for the current and previous calendar years.
The CRA also announced that you can transfer a payment/credit from one interim period to another interim period within the same account, except for payroll, or pay a balance owing in “My Business Account”.
Beginning this year the CRA will be rolling out a pilot project called electronic transfer of
accounting data (ETAD). Under this system, an auditor will call a taxpayer otherwise selected for audit and offer the possibility of sending in electronic records through “My Business Account”. The auditor will provide a case number to the taxpayer to be entered on the ETAD screen in “My Business Account” to allow the transmission of his/ her data. The taxpayer will receive a confirmation page when the file is successfully transmitted.
The CRA promises that a few more changes will be coming down the pipeline. “My Business Account” will be further enhanced and will soon provide you with the ability to:
- View interest transactions;
- Receive electronic notifications;
- View/update business activity;
- View owner information; and
- View Pensionable and Insurable Earnings Review (PIER) list.
What is “Quick Access”?
Last year, the CRA brought back an electronic service which was available to individuals before the “My Account” service was launched (referred to as “Quick Access”). It is an online service that gives individuals fast and secure access to limited personal tax and benefit account information. Although this information is currently available on “My Account”, you can access it on “Quick Access” without having to register for a Government of Canada epass.
When using “Quick Access”, you can view the following information:
- Tax return status;
- RRSP deduction limit;
- Canada Child Tax Benefit payment status;
- GST/HST credit payment status; and
- Universal Child Care Benefit payment status.
To use “Quick Access” you’ll need to provide your social insurance number, date of birth and the amount you calculated and entered on line 150 (“Total Income”) of your 2006 or 2007 filed and processed income tax return.
If you have any questions regarding the services launched by the CRA, please contact your BDO advisor.
This is a publication of BDO Dunwoody LLP on developments in the area of taxation. This material is general in nature and should not be relied upon to replace the requirement for specific professional advice. The information in this document is current as of January 20, 2009.
Comments and suggestions should be addressed to National Tax, by Fax: (416) 367-3912 or E-mail at info@bdo.ca. We invite you to visit our web site at www.bdo.ca to find out more about our firm and the offices near you. Or call us at 1-800-805-9544.
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© 2009 BDO Dunwoody LLP
