Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Government resources for accounting compliance in Canada start with one account: My Business Account on the CRA site. Since May 2025, the CRA delivers most business notices and letters there instead of by post, so if you haven’t set it up, do that before anything else.
What can you do in My Business Account?
It’s the online portal where you deal with the CRA on your business program accounts, such as GST/HST, payroll and corporation income tax. Notices, letters, forms and statements arrive there. The CRA says eligible correspondence sent to your business since January 1, 2014 stays available for up to 10 years, and you can view, print or download it.
Add a current email address. The CRA sends an email when new mail is waiting, and you’d otherwise have to remember to log in.
Which government pages help with compliance?
| Need | Official source |
|---|---|
| Notices, filings, account balances | CRA My Business Account |
| Email alerts on tax news | CRA electronic mailing lists (newsletter, payroll, GST/HST and others) |
| Record keeping rules | CRA pages on keeping records |
| Federal, provincial and municipal programs | Canada Business App (ISED) |
| Funding and tax help overview | ISED supports for business page |
The Canada Business App pulls programs from all three levels of government into one place and lets you turn on alerts for funding. It’s a finder. The program’s own page is where the eligibility rules live.
What records does compliance depend on?
The CRA’s general rule, on its page on where to keep records and for how long, is to keep required records and supporting documents for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. You can destroy records after that without asking. If you want to dispose of them earlier, you must first get written permission from the CRA. Records about long-term property, the share registry and other history that affects a sale or wind-up of the business have to be kept indefinitely.
Records must be kept at your Canadian residence or place of business unless the CRA allows another place. And the records from your computer systems count too, including accounting software, point of sale and electronic purchasing.
Here’s a case with numbers, and it’s a dull one, which is the point. You buy $2,000 of supplies in Ontario. The GST/HST calculator shows $260 of HST on top, for $2,260 in total. The invoice that proves those figures belongs with the year it relates to, so a purchase in 2025 is covered until the end of 2031.
What does a simple monthly routine look like?
Picture Tom, who runs a two-person renovation outfit in Moncton. On the first of each month he logs in to My Business Account and opens any new mail. He files the month’s invoices and receipts in one folder, paper or digital. And he checks the next filing or remittance date on his calendar.
That’s about twenty minutes. It’s the difference between hearing about a notice in week one and hearing about it when a reminder shows up with a penalty on it.
Where do the calculators fit?
Use them to see what’s coming before the notice does. If you have employees, the payroll remittance calculator lets you test what to send. If you work for yourself, the tax installments calculator shows if you should be paying in during the year. And the self-employed tax calculator gives a rough picture of the yearly bill. Its deductions lower income tax but not CPP, and it leaves out EI, so treat the result as an estimate.
What about provincial government sites?
Each province has its own pages for things the CRA doesn’t handle, such as some sales taxes, workers’ compensation and business registration. We haven’t checked any specific province’s compliance portals, so look on your province’s government site. Quebec, in particular, runs several taxes separately from the CRA.
What are common mistakes with government resources?
Ignoring the email address is the first. The second is treating a program finder as approval, because finding a grant doesn’t mean you qualify for it. The third is relying on a page with no date. Check the update date, and when a rule matters to a decision, read the official page itself.
What about a late notice you never saw? We couldn’t confirm any relief rule for mail you didn’t open, so don’t plan around one. Open the account regularly.
The sources behind this page
The online mail dates and the 10 year availability come from CRA pages on online mail and My Business Account. The record keeping periods come from the CRA’s keeping records pages. The HST example uses our calculator. This is an independent site with no tie to the CRA or any other government body.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the CRA send business notices now?
Since May 2025 most of them go to My Business Account as online mail. You get an email when something new arrives if your address is on file.
How long do notices stay online?
The CRA says eligible correspondence sent since January 1, 2014 is available for up to 10 years.
How long must I keep records?
Six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to, in general. Records on long-term property and the share registry are kept indefinitely.
Can I destroy records early?
Only with CRA permission. After six years you can destroy most records without asking.
What does the Canada Business App do?
It lists government programs and services from federal, provincial and municipal levels and sends funding alerts you choose. It doesn't decide if you qualify.
All family and benefits calculators
- Self-employed taxes in Canada: income, CPP and GST
How tax works when you are self-employed in Canada: reporting income and expenses, paying both halves of CPP, instalments and when to register for GST