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Yes, you can hire someone to prepare your Canadian tax return, and you can also authorize them to deal with the CRA for you. The CRA lets you name an accountant, a bookkeeper, a lawyer, a family member or a friend, so the real question isn’t if you can, it’s if this person suits your case. Tax consultants are worth their fee in some situations and a waste in others.
What can a tax consultant do for you?
The job has three parts. First comes preparing and filing returns. Then there’s planning ahead, such as choosing between an RRSP and a TFSA, or timing income. The third is acting for you with the CRA on a review, a notice or a missing slip.
That third part needs your permission. Once you authorize a representative, they can see your tax information and assessments and update parts of your account, and the authorization stays active until you cancel it or it expires. You control it through your CRA account, where you can confirm requests, change access and see what your representative did online.
When is it worth hiring help?
If your return is one T4 and a few receipts, probably never. These are the cases where a preparer earns their keep.
| Situation | Why a preparer may help |
|---|---|
| Self-employment or a side business | Expenses, CPP on both halves and instalments |
| Rental property | Splitting costs and tracking income |
| Sale of shares or property | Cost base, gains and reporting forms |
| Own corporation | Pay mix, corporate return and filing dates |
| Letter from the CRA | A reply with the right records and dates |
| Years of unfiled returns | Catching up in a sensible order |
What can good advice save?
Take a self-employed person in Ontario with $80,000 of net business income. The self-employed tax calculator shows $13,233.57 of income tax and $8,892.90 of CPP. Now say a $10,000 deduction was missed. Add it and income tax falls to $10,118.57, a saving of $3,115.00, while CPP stays put.
Instalments are another spot where planning pays. The tax instalments calculator shows that someone expecting $9,000 of net tax owing for the year pays $2,250 each quarter, and the CRA charges interest on late or short payments. A consultant who sets this up early can spare you those charges.
Own a company? The corporate tax calculator shows $35,088 of tax on $300,000 of active business income in Ontario for 2026. Splitting pay and profit is where professional advice tends to matter most.
How do you choose a tax consultant?
Start with the designation. Ask what the person holds and check it with the body that issued it. Then ask whether they handle your kind of return often, such as rental or business filings, since experience with your kind of return matters.
Get the fee in writing before any work starts, and ask what triggers extra charges. We couldn’t confirm typical fee levels, so we don’t give any. Ask two or three providers to quote the same job and compare what’s included.
Two more questions are easy to forget. Who signs the return, and how will you see it before it goes in? And how do they store your records, and for how long? Finally, give access only through your CRA account, and limit it to what the person needs.
What should you watch out for?
Never sign a blank or unseen return. You’re still responsible for whatever is filed under your name. Be careful with any fee based on a share of your refund, and don’t agree to one until you understand the terms.
Keep your own copies of slips, receipts and notices, and remove the authorization when the work ends. The calculators here give estimates, so treat their figures that way.
Where the numbers come from
The description of who may represent you and how authorization works comes from Canada Revenue Agency pages on authorizing a representative, read in September 2026. Tax figures use 2026 federal and Ontario data on this site. No government body or professional association is connected to this website.
Frequently asked questions
Who can represent me with the CRA?
Accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers, family members, friends and others, according to the CRA. You give the authorization yourself.
How do I control what a representative can see?
Through your CRA account, where you can confirm or deny requests, change access, delete it and view their online activity.
Does an authorization expire?
It stays active until you cancel it or it expires. A legal representative's access ends when the CRA is told of your death.
When is a preparer most useful?
When you have business or rental income, share or property sales, a corporation, a CRA letter or several unfiled years.
What do consultants charge?
We couldn't confirm typical fees. Ask for a written quote and compare what each one includes.
Information only. This page is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Tax-Services.ca is an independent publisher: we don't prepare or file tax returns or offer tax services, and we have no connection with the CRA, Revenu Québec, any government or any company named on this page. Check the figures that matter with an official source or a qualified professional.