CRA My Business Account (MyBA) is the Canada Revenue Agency's secure online portal for Canadian business owners and their authorized representatives. It centralizes virtually every interaction your business has with CRA — from filing returns and making payments to responding to letters and managing payroll accounts. If you are not yet using MyBA regularly, you are missing one of the most practical tools available to keep your business CRA-compliant and your accounts up to date.
My Business Account is a secure online platform at canada.ca that gives authorized users access to a business's CRA accounts. It is the business equivalent of My Account (for personal taxpayers). Through MyBA, you can manage:
Authorized representatives (accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers) can access your MyBA through the separate Represent a Client portal, once you have authorized them through your own MyBA account.
To register for MyBA, you need:
Once registered, full access is granted immediately. Registration takes about 10 minutes. New businesses that do not yet have a BN can register for one online at the same time.
MyBA shows your current account balance for all registered CRA accounts — whether you owe, have a credit, or are up to date. You can view statements of account showing all debits, credits, payments, and accrued interest. This is particularly useful for confirming that payroll remittances have been received by CRA and applied correctly.
For businesses that file GST/HST returns manually (rather than through accounting software), MyBA allows online filing for quarterly and annual filers. Payroll information returns (T4 and T4 Summary, T4A, T5018) can also be filed directly through MyBA. T2 corporate tax returns are typically filed through certified tax preparation software, but some supplementary information can be submitted through MyBA.
MyBA integrates with online banking to facilitate CRA payments for all account types. You can also set up pre-authorized debit (PAD) agreements for regular installment payments. Viewing your payment history confirms that CRA received and applied your remittances — critical for payroll compliance.
When CRA sends a letter requesting information or proposing an adjustment, you can respond directly through MyBA using the Submit documents feature. This creates a timestamped electronic record of your response, avoids mail delays, and is more secure than fax or post. You can also view all correspondence CRA has sent to your business.
CRA's move to electronic-first correspondence is accelerating, and it changes how deadlines work in practice. For most businesses enrolled in MyBA, CRA now delivers most notices, letters, and correspondence online rather than by physical mail — and the legal consequences of missing a notice are just as serious as if it had arrived in your mailbox.
Online mail from CRA is legally effective the moment it is made available in your MyBA inbox — CRA does not have to wait for you to actually read it. Assessment and objection deadlines run from the date the notice appears online, not the date you check your account. CRA does send an email notification to the address on file when new mail is available, but the notice is considered received once it is posted. If that notification email lands in a spam folder or goes to an outdated address, you can miss a critical deadline without ever knowing a document was issued.
This affects businesses enrolled in MyBA, corporations with active T2 accounts, GST/HST registrants, employers with payroll accounts, and individuals who have opted in (or been defaulted in) to online mail through personal My Account. CRA has been progressively enrolling new business registrants in online mail automatically, so if your business was recently incorporated or registered, it may already be set up for electronic-only correspondence by default.
The 90-day deadline to file a Notice of Objection runs from the date a Notice of Assessment or Reassessment is posted to your MyBA inbox — not from when you happen to log in and read it. Audit correspondence, including initial contact letters and information requests, can also be delivered this way, often with response deadlines of 30 to 60 days. GST/HST filing confirmations, remittance summaries, and payroll information requests are handled the same way, which is why any bookkeeping or payroll provider you work with should be authorized on the relevant MyBA accounts.
As of 2024, most businesses cannot fully opt out of online mail delivery for corporate account correspondence — individual taxpayers retain some ability to opt out through My Account settings, but the direction of travel for businesses is toward online-only as the standard. To avoid missing something important: confirm the notification email address on file is current, mark CRA notification emails as a trusted sender so they don't land in spam, and check your MyBA inbox at least monthly even if you're receiving email notifications.
Through MyBA, you can register new program accounts (add a payroll account if you hire your first employee, add a GST/HST account when your revenues exceed $30,000), cancel accounts, update business address information, and manage authorized representatives.
To give your accountant access to your CRA accounts, you use the Authorize or manage representatives section of MyBA. You can grant Level 1 (view only) or Level 2 (view and transact) access, and can revoke access at any time. This is how Swift Accounting Ltd. Calgary and similar accounting firms access clients' CRA accounts on their behalf — a formal, logged authorization through the Represent a Client system.
MyBA displays upcoming filing and payment due dates for all your accounts, including corporate tax instalments, GST/HST return due dates, and payroll remittance due dates. This is particularly useful for small businesses managing multiple CRA account types with different due dates.
Certain clearance and confirmation requests — such as a certificate of compliance before distributing corporate assets in a wind-up — can be initiated through MyBA.
If you are an accounting professional, Represent a Client (RAC) is the portal you use to access your clients' CRA accounts once they have authorized you in MyBA. RAC has slightly different navigation than MyBA but provides equivalent access. CRA requires that each authorization be specific to the business number — you cannot access a client's accounts without an active, properly scoped authorization.
Yes — that is exactly how it is designed to work. Your accountant registers for Represent a Client (RAC) with CRA and then you authorize them through your MyBA account under "Authorize or manage representatives." Once authorized, they access your accounts through their own RAC login using their own credentials. You should never share your personal CRA login with anyone.
Log in to My Business Account, navigate to your GST/HST account, and view the Statement of Account. Payments applied to your account are shown within 1–3 business days of receipt. If a payment is missing, you can submit proof of payment through the Submit Documents feature and request a trace.
Yes — you can update your business address, mailing address, and contact information for each CRA account through MyBA under Account Information. It is important to keep your address current so CRA correspondence reaches you, as CRA's obligation to notify you is typically satisfied by mailing to your registered address on file.
Do not ignore it — CRA letters typically require a response within a specified deadline, and missing the deadline can waive your rights (for example, the 90-day deadline for filing a Notice of Objection). Forward the letter to your accountant or tax professional as soon as possible. The team at Swift Accounting Ltd. Calgary can interpret CRA correspondence and advise on the appropriate response.
As of 2024, most businesses cannot fully opt out of online mail delivery for corporate account correspondence — CRA intends online correspondence to become the universal standard for businesses. Individual taxpayers retain some ability to opt out through personal My Account settings. Rather than resisting the shift, the safer approach is to keep your notification email current, mark CRA emails as a trusted sender, and check your MyBA inbox regularly — or have your accountant authorized on the account to monitor it for you.
CRA My Business Account is a powerful tool that puts most of your CRA obligations in one place — and dramatically reduces the time spent on phone calls and paper correspondence. The team at Swift Accounting Ltd. Calgary uses Represent a Client access to monitor client accounts, catch missed deadlines, and respond to CRA on our clients' behalf. Contact us today to have a professional team manage your CRA account and compliance requirements.
