Over the past few decades the Canada Revenue Agency, like many other organizations and businesses, has gradually shifted to providing more and more of its services online, through its website. The Agency has been remarkably successful in bringing the Canadian taxpayer along with those efforts to the point where the vast majority (93%) of all individual income tax returns are now filed by electronic means, through the CRA website.
That statistic means that most Canadian taxpayers are familiar with the concept of obtaining tax services online, at least when it comes to filing their tax returns (although the majority of taxpayers do still pay someone else to prepare and file their return). It’s likely, however, that many are not aware of the many other digital and online services which are available to individual taxpayers through the CRA website, beyond simply filing a tax return.
Those services are provided, for the most part, through “My Account”, a web-based service which enables taxpayers to obtain personal tax information and manage their tax affairs almost entirely online. Using My Account, taxpayers can view a Notice of Assessment, change a tax return, make a payment to the CRA, track the amount of instalment payments made during the year, receive messages from the Agency, respond to a query from them and/or upload documents as needed, or dispute a Notice of Assessment issued by the CRA. There are, in fact, nearly 50 separate tax and benefit related services which are provided through My Account. A full listing of those services can be found on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-individuals/account-individuals/about-account/services-my-account.html.
To encourage taxpayers to move to the online management of their taxes, the CRA recently took steps to simplify the registration process for My Account, making it possible to complete that registration entirely online, at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/register-cra-sign-in-services.html.
A taxpayer who chooses to effect registration for My Account online must first provide their social insurance number and date of birth, as well as information from the most recent tax return filed with the CRA. It’s then necessary to use a mobile device to take a real-time photograph of themself as well as a photograph of an accepted government-issued photo identification document. For this purpose, accepted government issued photo ID documents include a Canadian passport, a Canadian driver’s licence, or a provincial or territorial photo ID. (Note that a posting on the CRA website on July 30, 2025 indicates that passports are temporarily not being accepted as an identity verification option, but there is no indication of when that situation will be resolved.) Once those two photos are uploaded and the CRA has verified the taxpayer’s identity, the taxpayer will have immediate access to all of the services provided through My Account.
Before the online method was available, taxpayers who wished to sign up for My Account had to wait for an access code to be sent to them by mail. It’s still possible to follow that procedure in order to register for My Account, and some taxpayers may prefer that option. In order to do so, such taxpayers will similarly start their registration online at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/register-cra-sign-in-services.html, by providing their social insurance number, date of birth, and information from the most recent tax return filed with the CRA. They will then request a CRA access code, which will be sent by mail (a process which generally takes about 10 days). Once the access code is received, the registration process can be completed by entering that access code on the CRA website. Once that is done, the taxpayer will have full access to all My Account services.
Canadians who are registered for online banking at most Canadian financial institutions have another option when it comes to registering for and using My Account. Many such Canadian financial institutions have entered into a “Sign-in Partner” arrangement with the CRA, which allows taxpayers to register for and sign into My Account using the same id and password which they have set up for online banking, thus avoiding the need to remember yet another online id and password. A listing of the financial institutions which are part of this arrangement can be found on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/help-cra-sign-in-services/sign-in-partners.html.
For taxpayers who are concerned about the security of their personal banking information while using Sign-in Partner, a Privacy Notice posted on the CRA website indicates that the Sign-In partner which the taxpayer chooses is not disclosed to the Agency, and that no personally identifiable information is exchanged between the CRA and the financial institution.
Regardless of the method used to register for My Account, once registration is complete, the process for logging in to My Account is the same for all taxpayers. The login page can be found on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services.html, and the process begins with the taxpayer inputting their id and password. One further step is then needed, as the CRA utilizes multi-factor authentication (MFA) in order to ensure the security of its online services, including My Account. As part of the registration/login process, the taxpayer will have been asked to provide a telephone number. When logging in, and after entering their id and password, the taxpayer will receive a one-time passcode, which can be provided through a call or a text message (at the taxpayer’s option) to that telephone number. Once that one-time passcode is correctly entered on the CRA website, access to the services of My Account is made available.
The CRA does still provide other methods by which taxpayers can have questions answered or obtain access to their personal tax information other than through its website, but the number and availability of such other methods has been diminishing for several years. The CRA still maintains its Individual Income Tax Enquiries Line (1-800-959-8281) where client services agents who have access to personal tax information can assist taxpayers but, as the CRA acknowledges on its website, wait times for that service are long and taxpayers who call are sometimes redirected to automated services, rather than reaching a client services agent.
The reality, now and in the future, is that the CRA is moving more and more to delivering tax information and tax services online and that the Agency’s resources will be increasingly allocated to that end. Becoming registered for My Account and dealing with the CRA through that service is likely to provide most taxpayers with the quickest and most comprehensive means of managing their tax affairs, and of obtaining tax services from the CRA.
A full outline of the digital tax services provided by the Agency to individual Canadian taxpayers can be found on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-individuals.html.
The information presented is only of a general nature, may omit many details and special rules, is current only as of its published date, and accordingly cannot be regarded as legal or tax advice. Please contact our office for more information on this subject and how it pertains to your specific tax or financial situation.
