FAQ - Payments to the Canada Revenue Agency

If you have a balance owing to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), we recommend that you pay electronically. For your convenience, following is a “How To” guide outlining a few payment options available to you.

How to make your CRA payments

There are several ways to submit a payment to the CRA, but some are more convenient than others. The CRA has, in recent years, added a few new ways to make payments, which helps to make sure that your payment arrives on time. Penalties and interest may be applied if not made on time.

1. Pay through your online banking system

If you bank with a major financial institution, you can likely pay your CRA remittances through your online banking portal. You add the CRA to your list of payees, choose the payment type, such as “Federal – Corporation Tax Payments – TXINS” and enter your business number as your CRA account number. If you are making personal tax payments then you would use or Social Insurance Number. However, be aware that financial institutions often require you to set up online CRA remittances and may have a set-up fee. Most also charge a fee for filing your remittances so the costs can add up. Depending on the financial institution the payment must be set up in advance of the due date in order for the payment to be made on time. Most will not allow you to set up the payment on the day it is due. The amount of time needed to be set up in advance varies depending on the financial institution.

2. Use a third-party payment provider

You can also use a third-party payment provider for your CRA remittances. Plooto offers this service, and you can find out how to send your CRA remittances using Plooto here. Third parties provide different types of payment services, which means you must ensure that the solution you select is enabled for all of the remittance payment types you need. Most third parties streamline the process and eliminate the paperwork, but be sure to demo the solution to ensure that it will indeed make your CRA payments easier.

3. Make payments through CRA My Payment

Another online option for paying CRA remittances is My Payment, a service created by the CRA. You will need to use Interact, Visa Debit, or Debit MasterCard to use this option. You also need to be aware of any daily or weekly transaction limits through Interac or your Debit credit card, as you may exceed these when paying your full remittance. My Payment is also available only 21 hours per day (though the downtimes are at night). My Payment does give you the ability to pay and they will recognize the payment immediately when made, this allows for a payment to be made the same day as the due date, thus you may be able to avoid late fees.

4. If you have set up My Account for Individuals or My Business Account for businesses

The payments can be set up using pre-authorized debits that will automatically withdraw the amounts from the bank account. These need to be set up in advance and the payments will automatically be withdrawn. This works very well for setting payments that will be the same amount each period such as tax installments. In addition, there are many options for how often the payment will be withdrawn, can be one-time, monthly, quarterly etc.

5. Use the mail or visit your bank branch

The list wouldn’t be complete without these options, but sending a cheque through the mail and visiting your bank branch are neither convenient nor efficient methods to make your CRA remittance payments. You can make a payment to the CRA in person at any financial institution using your original remittance voucher. You can also mail a cheque with your business number or Social Insurance Number in the memo line, and include the remittance voucher if you have it. With these options, you will successfully pay the CRA, but the process will take longer than necessary.

CRA Links for More Information

• Business Payments
• Individual Payments