Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Most of what you need on the CRA website sits behind three doors: the Taxes menu, the Benefits menu and your CRA account. Sign in to My Account first. It shows your refund status and notices of assessment, lets you make payments and holds your NETFILE access code, which saves a lot of searching.
The CRA's home page is canada.ca/en/revenue-agency. Its Most requested list links the payroll deductions calculator, the GST/HST return, benefits payment dates, forms and publications, and Skip the Line. For your own refund status, notices and payments, sign in to your CRA account from the same page.
How is the CRA website laid out?
The CRA landing page sits inside the main canada.ca menu, which has 13 broad topics, including Taxes, Benefits, Jobs and the workplace, and Business and industry. On the CRA page itself, individuals will find income tax, tax credits and benefits, and savings and pension plans. Businesses get GST/HST, payroll and business registration. Charities have their own section.
There’s also a “Most requested” box. When we checked in November 2026, it listed the payroll deductions calculator, the GST/HST return, benefits payment dates, forms and publications, and a Skip the Line page for faster help. That list changes, so don’t rely on it staying put.
| You want to | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Check a refund or a notice of assessment | My Account |
| Find a form or guide | Forms and publications |
| See when a benefit is paid | Benefits payment dates |
| Work out payroll deductions | Payroll deductions calculator |
| Register a business or find GST/HST rules | Businesses section |
| Get help without waiting on the phone | Skip the line, chat or chatbot |
How do you use the CRA login to sign in to your account?
There are three ways. You can use online banking from a sign-in partner, a CRA user ID and password, or, in British Columbia and Alberta, a provincial sign-in. The CRA login services page lists all three and a link to register if you have no credential yet. The CRA says that from February 2026 you must have a backup multi-factor authentication method on file, such as a passcode grid or an authenticator app. It also says you can regain access online, without calling, if you forget your sign-in details or your security answers.
Once you’re in, you can see refunds, make payments and find your 8-character NETFILE access code under Tax returns. Since February 2026 the CRA shows notices of assessment and reassessment only in My Account. People without an account, or who chose letter mail, can still be mailed one. Tax slips (T4, T4A, T5) can’t be requested by phone either, so download them from your account or ask the issuer. Address and direct deposit changes go through separate CRA update services, and our direct deposit guide walks through that one.
Set it up in a quiet week, not the night before a deadline. Registering can involve a code sent by text or a security code sent by mail, and the mail version takes days. Nobody enjoys finding that out on April 29.
Which searches actually work?
Use the form or line number, not a sentence. A form name such as “T1 General” gets you further than “how do I claim work costs”. If a search returns a dozen pages with similar titles, pick the one on canada.ca with the year you need in the title, since guides are issued by tax year. And check the date on any page about rates. A 2024 figure on a 2026 return is a classic error.
For individual income tax questions the CRA lists 1-800-959-8281 (1-866-426-1527 from Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut), Monday to Friday, 8 am to 8 pm ET, closed on weekends and public holidays. The same page lists an online chat with the same hours, and the CRA also offers live chat inside your account. Many tasks can be done without speaking to anyone, and the Skip the Line page points to them. Our My CRA account guide covers the account side, and the dealing with the CRA guide covers letters and payments.
Say Jamal in Saskatoon wants the home office rules. Typing the line number from his return into the search box lands him on the right guide in one click. Typing a whole question gets him a pile of pages from five different years.
What can you check on the CRA site against our numbers?
Pull your notice of assessment and compare it with an estimate. On $60,000 of taxable income in Ontario with only the basic personal amounts, the income tax calculator gives $9,417.25: $6,192.73 federal and $3,224.52 Ontario. Your real assessment will be lower if you claimed credits.
The same applies to benefits. The Canada Child Benefit calculator and the GST/HST credit calculator give estimates, and the CRA’s own payment date and amount are the ones that count. For paycheque questions, try the take-home pay calculator.
What should you have ready before you sign in?
A sign-in goes faster when you gather a few things first. None of it is complicated, but each missing piece can stall you at the worst moment.
- Your online banking login, if you plan to use a sign-in partner, or your CRA user ID and password if you already have them.
- Your phone, since multi-factor authentication is required and a text code may be part of the process.
- A backup method, because the CRA asks you to set one up too.
- Your last notice of assessment, in case a screen asks for a figure from a past return.
Try it once on a quiet evening. If something fails, you still have time to use the sign-in page's way of registering for a new credential, and a mailed security code will arrive before you need it.
How do you check your CRA refund status and find forms on the website?
Refund status sits in My Account, so the CRA login comes first. Once you're signed in, open the tax return area to see your refund and your notice of assessment. Forms and publications are different: you don't need to sign in for them. Open Forms and publications from the CRA page, then search by the form number, such as T1 General, and pick the guide or form for the tax year you need.
Which CRA forms and publications pages are worth bookmarking?
You'll go back to the same handful of pages every year, so save them while nothing is urgent. My Account is the first one, since it holds your notices, balance and benefit details. Next come Forms and publications for any form or guide, the benefits payment dates page, and the payroll deductions calculator if you're checking a paycheque. A bookmark to the CRA contact page also helps, because it is where the current phone numbers and hours live.
Use bookmarks and not search results when you can. A search can put a look-alike page near the top, and a bookmark always opens the page you saved.
How do you keep proof of what a page said?
Government pages change, and the guide that told you something in March may read differently in October. When you rely on a page for a decision, such as a deadline, a limit or a rate, save a PDF of it or take a screenshot with the date visible. Write the date on your own notes, too. If an agent or a notice later says something different, you can show what the official site said on the day you acted.
This is the same habit as keeping a mileage log or a copy of a TD1 form. It takes a few seconds, and it is the difference between "I think the page said" and "here is what it said on that day."
What goes wrong on the website?
Look-alike sites are the biggest risk. Check the address ends in canada.ca before you type a password or a social insurance number. The CRA doesn’t offer a “tax centre” storefront for regular filers, as far as its contact page shows, so a paid site that claims to be the CRA deserves suspicion.
Shared computers are another.
The CRA warns not to use autofill for your online banking details on a shared device, and it means it.
Deadlines are worth a second look too. For the 2025 return the dates were April 30, 2026 for most people and June 15, 2026 for the self-employed, with payment still due April 30. The CRA hasn’t printed the 2026 return dates yet, but under the usual rules they’re April 30, 2027 and June 15, 2027. Phone scams and fake CRA texts are common, so see our CRA scams page before you act on a call or message.
A short routine for each filing season
You don't need to learn the whole site. A repeatable routine covers most of what people come to the CRA website for.
- Open My Account from your bookmark and check that your address is current.
- Look at your last notice of assessment, which the CRA now shows only in My Account if you have one.
- Download your tax slips from the account, since they can't be requested by phone.
- Check the filing dates for your situation. Under the usual rules they are April 30, 2027 for most people and June 15, 2027 for the self-employed, with payment still due April 30.
- Save a dated PDF of any page you rely on for a limit or a deadline.
Take Priya in Mississauga, who does this every February. By March she knows which slips are still missing and has time to ask the issuer, instead of finding out a week before the deadline. Compare your notice with an estimate from the income tax calculator if you want a sense check.
What should you do if a page says one thing and a letter says another?
Go with the letter for your own file, since it’s about you, and use the page for the general rule. Then check the page date. If the two still disagree, ask through My Account or by phone and write down the answer, the date and the agent’s name.
Sources, and how we checked them
We checked these CRA pages in November 2026: the CRA home page, the login services page, the contact information page and the 2026 filing season notice. Tax figures use 2026 federal and Ontario rates. No level of government runs or endorses this site, and phone numbers and hours can change, so confirm them on the CRA contact page.
Frequently asked questions
How do I sign in to my CRA account?
Use online banking from a sign-in partner, or a CRA user ID and password. Residents of British Columbia and Alberta also have a provincial sign-in. If you have none of these, the CRA login services page lets you register. From February 2026 the CRA says you need a backup multi-factor authentication method on file.
Where do I find my notice of assessment?
In My Account. Since February 2026 the CRA shows notices of assessment and reassessment only there after it processes your return. If you have no CRA account, or you set your mail preference to letter mail, the CRA can still send a notice to the mailing address on file.
Can I get a paper copy of a tax slip by phone?
No. The CRA says individuals and representatives can no longer ask for a paper copy of T4, T4A or T5 slips by phone. Download your slips from My Account, or contact the issuer, such as your employer or bank. Most slips are issued by the end of February.
When can I call the CRA about my income tax?
For individual income tax questions the CRA lists 1-800-959-8281, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 8 pm ET. It is closed on weekends and public holidays, and wait times vary. Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut callers use a different number. Check the CRA contact page for the current details.
How do I know a tax site is the real CRA?
Check that the address ends in canada.ca before you type a password or a social insurance number. A paid site that claims to be the CRA is a warning sign. Also avoid autofill for online banking details on a shared device, as the CRA itself advises.
Where do I find my NETFILE access code?
Sign in to My Account and select Tax returns. The CRA says that from February 2026 your 8-character NETFILE access code is available there. Tax software asks for it when you file online, so look it up before you start rather than when the program asks.
- Dealing with the CRA: letters, audits and payments
Dealing with the CRA: what to do when a letter arrives, how a review differs from an audit, how My Account helps, and what to do if you can't pay
- CRA Direct Deposit: How to Set It Up or Change It