Using CRA’s My Account to Improve Your Tax Filings

The Canada Revenue Agency’s My Account online portal is a useful tool to help you file tax returns that are complete and accurate. It groups all of your federal tax information in a single place. You can have quick access to your tax files and make many changes directly online.

Make sure the CRA has your complete and up-to-date personal information in your tax files. Using My Account, you can easily see your address, telephone numbers, marital status and authorized representatives, and you can change them directly online as needed.

When preparing your tax returns, you will often need to refer to your tax information from previous years. In the Tax Returns section of My Account, you can see the status of your tax returns dating back to 2004. Since February 2014, you can also see full copies of any notice of assessment or notice of reassessment that has been issued in your file.

In the Accounts and Payments section, you can see any payments you have made and whether there is an outstanding balance. CRA’s My Account also gives you the status of any refunds that you may receive.

You can also set up direct deposit and direct payments to the CRA through My Account to simplify the management of the payments you may need to make or receive.

Deductible contributions to a registered retirement savings plan are subject to an annual limit and are cumulative over the years. To make sure you are claiming the right amount, you can see both of these limits in the RRSP and Tax Free Savings Plans section of My Account.

Conversely, if you have withdrawn funds for a home buyers’ plan or a lifelong learning plan, you need to know what your annual reimbursement amount is to avoid penalties. You can also find a full history of payments and your annual amounts in this section.

There are many deductions and credits that you can carry over to other years if they go unused. These can be hard to track manually, but My Account has a section that provides you with your complete personal history and available amounts. The most common carryover amounts found on My Account are:

• Capital gains and losses
• Lifetime capital gains deduction
• Non-capital losses
• Federal education, tuition and textbooks Amount

My Account also allows you to track the status of your participation in any of the other programs administered by the CRA alongside income taxes, such as:

• Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax credit
• Disability tax credit
• Canada child tax benefit
• Universal child care benefit
• Working income tax benefit

These programs are intimately linked to your income tax return. Having access to this information helps ensure the completeness of your tax return.

Register for a CRA My Account.

Learn more about registering for a CRA My Account.