Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
There is no “Canada Revenue Service”. The body people mean is the Canada Revenue Agency, the CRA. It collects federal income tax, GST/HST and payroll deductions, administers tax for most provinces and territories, and pays benefits through the tax system. This page covers its dates, My Account, phone lines and scam warning signs.
What does the Canada Revenue Agency actually do?
Two jobs. It collects income tax, GST/HST and payroll deductions, and it pays out credits and benefits that are tied to your return. So the same office that sends you a balance owing also sends your GST/HST credit.
The “most provinces” part matters. Quebec runs its own provincial income tax, so a Quebec employee deals with Revenu Québec for provincial forms. The TD1 is one example: Quebec residents fill in a federal one and a provincial one from Revenu Québec. If you meant a provincial body, start from your province’s own tax site. Our page on the CRA tax return goes into the return itself.
What are the CRA dates for the 2025 and 2026 tax years?
For the 2025 tax year the CRA’s important dates page lists March 2, April 30 and June 15, 2026. The CRA has not printed the 2026 tax year dates on that page yet. The filing rules are fixed by the Income Tax Act, so we applied them to 2027 and marked the result as our own work. Check the CRA page in the new year.
| Date | What it is for | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| March 2, 2026 | Last day to contribute to an RRSP for the 2025 tax year | CRA page |
| April 30, 2026 | Filing for most people, and payment of any balance owing (2025 tax year) | CRA page |
| June 15, 2026 | Filing if you or your spouse or common-law partner is self-employed (2025 tax year) | CRA page |
| March 1, 2027 | Expected RRSP deadline for the 2026 tax year | Our calculation |
| April 30, 2027 | Expected filing and payment date for most people (2026 tax year) | Our calculation |
| June 15, 2027 | Expected filing date for self-employed people (2026 tax year) | Our calculation |
Read the June line twice. Self-employed people get six more weeks to file. Payment is not extended, so a balance owing is still due on April 30. File late and pay on time. Our guide to filing income tax in Canada has the penalties.
How do you see your own tax account?
Through My Account, the CRA’s online portal, where you can view and manage your personal income tax and benefit information. You start from the “Register for a CRA account” option on the CRA sign-in page. We could not load the CRA’s full list of registration requirements, so follow the steps on that registration page.
There are three ways in:
- a CRA user ID and password that you create with the CRA
- a sign-in partner, which means your own online banking (the CRA warns that registering with someone else’s banking details gives that person access to your tax information)
- a provincial partner, available to residents of British Columbia and Alberta
If a security code mailed to you has not arrived after 10 business days, the CRA says you can request a new one or use its document verification service. It also encourages a backup multi-factor authentication method. If you are signing in for someone else, use Represent a Client, not their account. Look in My Account before you call, since your own figures are often the answer.
How do you reach the CRA by phone?
For questions about your own income tax file, the CRA contact page lists 1-800-959-8281, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 8 pm Eastern, closed weekends and public holidays. Callers from the 867 area code in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut use 1-866-426-1527. From outside Canada and the U.S., the page lists 1-613-940-8495 as a collect call through an operator.
Business enquiries use 1-800-959-5525, with the same hours. The page notes that calls can be redirected to the automated line when waits are long. Have your social insurance number and last year’s notice of assessment ready, and check the page for current hours before you dial. Our guide to calling the CRA has more.
How do you tell a real CRA message from a scam?
The CRA’s own scam page is specific. Automated calls are only courtesy reminders about filing, instalments or GST/HST deadlines. The CRA sends email only if you signed up for notifications or asked for a link during a call, and it uses text messages only for sign-in codes you chose to receive by phone.
The CRA says it will not:
- demand immediate payment by e-transfer, cryptocurrency, prepaid card or gift card
- send refunds or payments by e-transfer or text
- threaten arrest, deportation or prison
- ask for personal or financial information in a voicemail or email
- charge a fee to speak with an agent
Other red flags include urgent deadlines, links to “claim a refund”, look-alike web addresses and spoofed phone numbers. If you are unsure, hang up, type the CRA address yourself (real ones start with canada.ca or end with cra-arc.gc.ca) and call the number on the official site. Report scams through the CRA’s scam reporting page, Report Cyber and Fraud, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or your local police.
What can you work out before you deal with the CRA?
A lot of the stress comes from not knowing the number. On $75,000 of employment income in Ontario, our tax refund calculator shows income tax for the year of $12,704.65. If $14,000 was withheld, the estimated refund is $1,295.35 ($14,000 minus $12,704.65). It counts the basic personal amount and the CPP and EI credits, so other credits can raise it.
Self-employed? The tax instalments calculator helps plan payments through the year, and the self-employed tax calculator gives a first estimate. That tool lowers income tax with your deductions but not CPP, and it leaves out EI, so treat the result as rough. To see what sits behind your pay, open the payroll deductions calculator.
Sources and what we checked
We checked the figures and rules on this page against the official pages below in November 2026. This is an independent information page with no connection to the CRA or any government.
- CRA: Contact information
- CRA: Important dates for individuals
- CRA: How to recognize a scam
- CRA: My Account for individuals
Frequently asked questions
Is there a Canada Revenue Service?
Not under that name. The agency is the Canada Revenue Agency, or CRA. It administers tax laws for the federal government and for most provinces and territories, and it runs benefit programs through the tax system. Quebec collects its own provincial income tax through Revenu Québec.
When is the filing deadline for the 2025 tax year?
The CRA lists April 30, 2026 for most people, and June 15, 2026 if you or your spouse or common-law partner is self-employed. Any balance owing was still due on April 30. The CRA has not printed 2026 tax year dates yet. By the same rules we expect April 30 and June 15, 2027.
What do I need to sign in to My Account?
You register through the Register for a CRA account option on the CRA sign-in page and then sign in with a CRA user ID and password, a sign-in partner such as your own bank, or a provincial partner in British Columbia or Alberta. Follow the CRA registration page for the exact identity details it asks for.
Will the CRA ask for payment by text or email?
No. The CRA says it does not demand immediate payment by e-transfer, cryptocurrency, prepaid card or gift card, and it does not send refunds by e-transfer or text. Its emails will not ask you to reply or click links for personal details. If in doubt, hang up and call the number on canada.ca.
What is the CRA phone number for personal tax questions?
The CRA contact page lists 1-800-959-8281 for individual income tax enquiries, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 8 pm Eastern. Callers from the 867 area code in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut use 1-866-426-1527. Business enquiries use 1-800-959-5525. Check the page for current hours.
Does the CRA handle tax in Quebec?
Not for provincial income tax. Quebec residents deal with Revenu Québec for the provincial return and provincial forms, and with the CRA for federal tax. Quebec residents therefore file a federal return and a Quebec return, each with its own forms and its own filing date.
- How Canadian income tax works: brackets and credits
How federal and provincial Canadian income tax stack up, what marginal and average rates mean, and how credits and deductions change your bill