7- Electronic access to personal files

My Account is a secure portal offered by the CRA that allows individuals to view their personal tax information and manage their tax affairs online. Among others, it can be used to get information on tax credits and benefits (e.g., the CCB and the GTS/HST credit), view their RRSP deduction limit, sign up for direct deposit, authorize a representative and access the Auto-fill my return service (see item 2 in this section).⁹ Revenu Québec has a similar service called My Account for Individuals.¹⁰

As a complement to the My Account service, the CRA has made two apps available for taxpayers:

• MyCRA: provides secure access to key tax information such as the notice of assessment, tax return or refund status, RRSP deduction limit and TFSA contribution room;
• MyBenefits CRA: allows an individual to view benefit payment dates and amounts, view the status of a CCB application, update their marital status and change information about dependent children.

The CRA offers taxpayers two identity validation options: an Interac document verification service that offers users a secure and real-time identity validation method and allows them to immediately access their account. Users can also request a security code by mail, which can take up to ten business days.¹¹

Preventing telephone fraud

The CRA’s How to verify the CRA has contacted you page provides useful information to confirm whether the person calling is a CRA employee or a scammer.

⁹ For a complete list of services available, go to the CRA’s About my Account page.

¹⁰ For detailed information on this topic, go to Revenu Québec’ My Account for Individuals page.

¹¹ For additional information regarding the registration process for digital services, go to the CRA’s Registration process to access the CRA sign-in services page.