How to Make Payments to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

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How to Make Payments to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

November 4, 2014

Tax Question:

How can I make my corporate payments to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)?

Facts:

You can make a payment to CRA by online banking, debit card, pre-authorized debit or a third-party service provider (i.e. ADP, Ceridian, TelPay, etc). In addition, you can also pay at your bank or mail in your payment to CRA.

Discussion:

Paying your corporate GST, payroll and taxes on time is essential to avoid any penalties and interest for late payment.

Online – You can make your payment using your online banking. Most financial institutions will allow you to set up CRA as a payee. Make sure you correctly identify the type of account, your business number and reporting period when making the payment.
Debit Card – A quick and easy way to pay these balances on the CRA website.is to use “My Payment”. Go to http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/mypayment/ on the CRA website. However you need to bank with one of the following institutions, Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust, Envision Financial or Libro Credit Union and have this set up with your online banking. If you do not bank with these institutions, you cannot use “My Payment”.
Pre-authorized Debit – This feature lets you set up a payment to be made from your bank account to CRA on a pre-set date. This is not recommended as you have no control over the payments once it is set up and CRA then has your banking information.
Third-Party Providers – This is particularly a great feature for payroll. You have to be using a payroll company such as Ceridian or ADP to process your payroll and then they send your payroll remittance for you to CRA on time. So no need to worry about remitting this payment as the payroll company does it for you.
Pay at Bank – If you are preparing a cheque to take to your financial institution, businesses should ensure to indicate their business number, period end date and the fiscal year the payment should be applied to on the face of the cheque. You need to ensure you have the original remittance form appropriate for the payment you are making as well. A photocopy of a remittance form will NOT be accepted at the bank. If you do not have an original remittance form, you can order them online with CRA however it will take a few days to receive them in the mail.

CRA considers you have made your payment on the day that it is received by CRA or it is processed at any financial institution (ATM and online payments may not be processed the same day) and not on the day you mail it or authorize it. If the due date falls on a weekend, then the payment is due the following business day. CRA does not accept post-dated cheques or cash.

If you would like more information on this topic, please contact a member of the Empire CPA team by filling out the contact form below.

Canadian and foreign tax laws are complex and have a tendency to change on a frequent basis. As such, the content published above is believed to be accurate as of the date of this post. Before implementing any tax planning, please seek professional advice from a qualified tax professional. Empire, Chartered Professional Accountants will not accept any liability for any tax ramifications that may result from acting based on the information contained above.