CRA Changes Small Business Communications

Geoff Currier and Evelyn Jacks

The CRA has rolled out some changes which it says will assist small businesses with tax filing and managing tax affairs, but tax professionals will need to enhance communications with clients to stay on top of critical issues. Here’s what you need to know:

New CRA communications features include the Manage Balance for Business is available to your business clients in their My Business Account. However, it is not available through Represent a Client. This means you’ll have to advise your clients that they will need to access this service on their own and then share the information with you. 

Business owners will also be able to manage outstanding payroll, GST/HST and corporate income tax debt online without contacting a collections officer. That’s a bonus right there for most people! They can make a payment toward an outstanding balance, set up a payment arrangement based on their financial situation and request a call back from the CRA if they need assistance. 

However, the recordkeeping for all this communication may be more challenging, and this is critically important to preserve a taxpayer’s appeal rights down the road.

That’s where a relationship with a professional like an RWM™ (Real Wealth Manager) and a DMA-Personal and Corporate Tax Services Specialist™ comes in.  

The goal is to keep Personal Net Worth Statements, which itemize current liabilities like tax debt, up to date. 

The Tax Consequences. It’s also important to track interest paid by the CRA to the taxpayer, because that’s taxable income. 

And of course, preserving appeal rights requires an understanding and tracking of dates on a Notice of Assessment or Reassessment.

SINs and Ongoing Email Communications. Another feature the CRA has added is email notifications to the email address on your client’s T1 personal tax account, when the Social Insurance Number is added or updated on a business account. To receive these notifications, the CRA says your clients should make sure the email address in their T1 personal income tax account is up to date. 

If a client gets a notification about a SIN update on a business account that they didn’t request, it may be fraudulent and in that case, it’s best to contact Business Enquiries.

Payment Options Have Expanded. As of October 19th, 2026, the CRA is accepting Apple Pay, Google Pay and Konek as payment options. Apple Pay and Google Pay support debit cards including Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard. Konek offers Interac Direct along with Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard through participating financial institutions.

Understanding New Authentication Options. As we’ve written previously in the Knowledge Bureau Report, there’s the new authentication step for individuals, authorized representatives and tax preparers. Users will need to sign into their CRA account to make use of this stop. The step is optional but it is designed to add an extra layer of security. That’s an important step that should be recommended. 

Business clients will also want to understand their obligations relating to privacy and security, a subject well covered in Knowledge Bureau’s Privacy Principles Course. 

Finally, businesses can have their T2 corporation income tax return filed online using a Web Access Code. The Web Access Code can be obtained by going to “Get a web access code to tile your T2 return online.”

Bottom Line. The Tax Act remains complex and unduly burdensome for small business owners but the CRA is hoping that these changes will make life a little easier for your business clients.

Additional Professional Education. We invite you to join a national audience of financial advisors and tax practitioners to learn and weigh in with your thoughts on these changes and their effects on your relationship with business clients at tomorrow’s Year End Tax Planning CE Summit. There is still time to join us for comprehensive year end tax planning education. 

Client Education. Finally, invite your clients to listen to Real Tax News with Evelyn Jacks and Friends to understand their tax system better. Go to: https://learn.knowledgebureau.com/pages/real-tax-news or anywhere you like to hear your favorite podcasts.