HOW CAN I QUICKLY ACCESS BUSINESS TAX REMINDERS AND CRA INFORMATION?

The CRA has a variety of mobile apps that you can access by click here. These apps help you stay up to date with your tax obligations, benefits and registration information.

HOW DO I FIND INFORMATION ABOUT GOVERNMENT GRANT PROGRAMS AND FINANCING?

The Government of Canada website has online resources to help businesses obtain grants, loans, private and public sector financing including leveraging personal assets. Click here.

AM I AN EMPLOYER FOR TAX PURPOSES?

The CRA generally considers you to be an employer if you:

• Pay salaries, wages (including advances), bonuses, vacation pay, or tips to your employees.
• Provide certain taxable benefits to your employees (for example, an automobile or allowances).

An individual is an employee if the worker and the payer have an employer-employee relationship. This relationship is referred to as employment under a contract of service.

Although the intent of a written contract might mean that an individual is self-employed (and therefore working under a contract for services), we cannot consider the individual as self-employed if there is evidence of an employer-employee relationship.

If you or a person working for you is not sure of the worker’s employment status, either one of you can request a ruling to determine it. For more information, go to How to get a ruling for Canada Pension Plan and employment insurance purposes.

For more information on employment status, see Guide RC4110, Employee or Self-Employed.

WHAT IS A PAYROLL PAYMENT ACCOUNT?

A payroll program account is an account number assigned to either an employer, a trustee or a payer of other amounts related to employment to identify themselves when dealing with the Canada Revenue Agency.

This 15-character payroll program account number contains the nine-digit business number (BN). The BN is a unique federal government numbering system that identifies your business and the various accounts you maintain. The payroll account number consists of:

• the nine-digit BN
• a two-letter code for the type of program (for payroll program, the letters are “RP“)
• a four-digit reference number to identify each account in a program a business may have

Depending on the type of business you have, you may need to register other types of programs accounts. The nine-digit business number will not change, but other letters or reference numbers will be added to the BN.

WHEN DO YOU HAVE TO OPEN A PAYROLL PROGRAM ACCOUNT?

You have to register for a payroll program account before the first remittance due date. Your first remittance due date is the 15th day of the month following the month in which you began withholding deductions from your employee’s pay, unless the CRA tells you to remit using a different frequency.

Example 1:

You hire an employee on March 11,  and you pay him bi-weekly. The first pay is on the 25^th, therefore your first remittance due date would be April 15.

Example 2:

You hire an employee on March 25 and pay him on April 3rd. Your first remittance due date would be May 15.

If you didn’t open an account before hiring employees, you still need to calculate deductions and remit them by the due date. If you don’t, you may be assessed a penalty.

WHAT INFORMATION DO I NEED TO OPEN A PAYROLL PROGRAM ACCOUNT?

You must have the following information to open a payroll program account:

• date employees received their first wages (or leave blank if the date is unknown)
• months covered for the payroll of employees’ wages
• type of pay period (for example, weekly, quarterly)
• number of employees
• payroll service name (if any)
• country of the parent company or affiliate, if you have a foreign owned corporation
• name of franchisor (if any)
• country of franchise’s head office (if any)

WHEN YOU NEED A BUSINESS NUMBER OR CANADA REVENUE AGENCY PROGRAM ACCOUNT

Certain business activities require a business number. You can register for:

• a business number: a unique, 9-digit number – the standard identifier for businesses. It is unique to a business or legal entity.
• CRA program accounts: 2 letters and 4 digits attached to a business number – used for specific business activities that must be reported to the CRA.

• You need a business number if you incorporate or need a CRA program account.
• You might need a business number to interact with other federal, provincial, and municipal governments in Canada.

You will get a business number if you:

• register for any CRA program accounts (like GST/HST, Payroll deductions, or Import-export)
• incorporate your business federally
• register or incorporate your business with these provinces:
  • • Alberta
    • British Columbia
    • Manitoba
    • Nova Scotia
    • Ontario
    • Saskatchewan
    • New Brunswick
    • Prince Edward Island
  • register using Business Registration Online (BRO)

You can authorize a representative to have access to all your CRA program accounts or you can restrict access to specific accounts. With written authorization, the representative can:

• access your accounts
• make account enquiries
• update account information

To allow the CRA to communicate with a representative, you will need to provide your consent. You can do this by authorizing a representative for your business or updating your current representatives list. A representative has access to your information until you revoke the authorization.

Your authorization will stay in effect until one of the following:

• you cancel it
• it reaches the expiry date you choose

In most case, there are four options for authorizing a representative:

Option 1: You authorize a representative online

Option 2: The representative submits an authorization request via EFILE

Option 3: The representative submits an authorization request online

Option 4: You authorize a representative by mail.

There are exceptions for authorization a representative. For more information, go to Executors and Trustees or receivers.

The list of services that representatives can do online on behalf of a business varies depending on the level of authorization that the business has consented to.

For more information, go to the CRA’s list of services for representatives of businesses

Below you will find a list of topics and links to current information from the CRA website:

• Government grants and financing
• How to get a ruling for Canada Pension Plan and employment insurance purposes
• Employment status, see Guide RC4110, Employee or Self-Employed
• When a Business Number is required
• What is a Payroll Program Account
• What do you need to open a Payroll Program Account
• How to give authorization to a representative
• Executor, Trustees or receivers
• List of services for representatives of businesses