How to get a CRA business number

Why read this?

• › You have a new business
• › You operate a small business

Before registering

• Ensure you have decided the business’ name, location, mailing address, legal structure, fiscal year-end and estimated gross sales.
• You should decide which CRA accounts your business needs: e.g., if you won’t have any employees, you don’t need a payroll account.
• CRA recommends registering just before the business launch, so it meets obligations like filing returns and paying taxes.
• Richard Beeny, associate partner, private mid-market practice at EY, agrees, adding business owners should register before incurring major expenses to be eligible for the GST/HST credit.

Why register?

• It helps CRA and the business “simplify their dealings with each other, as well as with all levels of the public sector,” says the agency, because CRA accounts can be easily linked to the business through its business number.
• Your business can claim the input tax credit, which refunds GST or HST on certain expenses.
• Your business needs CRA accounts for payroll, corporate income tax, sales tax or import/export tax.

Note: If you’ve previously registered your business for one of the above, CRA has already assigned a business number.

Note: If you’ve registered the business in Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia or Saskatchewan, you’ll automatically get a CRA business number.

What to do

You can register online if the business meets certain criteria (see “Online registration conditions,” this page).

To do this, you’ll need:
• business name;
• type of business (e.g., partnership);
• name and SIN of all owners, directors, partners and officers;
• business’s physical address and mailing address;
• description of major business activity.

You can also register your business by phone at 1-800-959-5525 or by filling out Form RC1, “Request for a Business Number” and sending it in to CRA.

Registering by phone is popular with many people, says Beeny. “It’s instant and also you’ve got someone to talk you through the process.”

Why register for a GST/HST account

• Your business will be automatically assigned a business number when you register for the GST/HST account.
• You must register if taxable revenues exceed $30,000 in a quarter, or over the last four quarters.
• But if there are many start-up expenses and little revenue, you could register to take advantage of the GST/HST input tax credit, says Beeny. A business with $10,000 in eligible expenses would get $1,300 back, depending on the province.

“You can only recover those if […] you’re registered prior to incurring those costs,” Beeny says.

Sources: CRA and Richard Beeny, associate partner, private mid-market practice, EY.

Compiled by Jessica Bruno, content editor of Advisor Group.

If the business should have been charging tax but hasn’t been, there is a risk CRA will consider the sales price of goods and services tax-inclusive.

Tips

• › If your business is located in Quebec, you will have to register for a GST/HST account with Revenue Québec, which will assign a business number. CRA will use that number too.
• › If you change your business’s legal structure, such as going from a sole proprietorship to a partnership, you’ll need a new business number.
• › If the business has a payroll account with CRA, you can sign up for direct deposit by filling out Form RC366, Direct Deposit Request.

After registering

• › The CRA may contact you to confirm or ask for more information.
• › If registering online or by phone, you should receive a business number immediately. If registering by mail, you’ll get a letter with the number.
• › You will be able to access account information and register for other services online through CRA’s My Business Account.

Online Registration Conditions

You won’t be able to register online if:

• › you don’t have a SIN;
• › you haven’t filed a Canadian income tax return;
• › you’ve registered a similar business;
• › your business is in Quebec and you don’t have a GST/HST program account;
• › you have a non-resident business and want to register for a GST program account;
• › you want a third program account for the same business;
• › you want to register a bare trust to hold real estate;
• › you want to register for a corporate income tax program account for a business incorporated federally with Industry Canada, or provincially in British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario or Saskatchewan.