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Revenue Canada

TK4

TK4

Well-known member
Down the rabbit hole again.
Canada Revenue Agency sends me an email saying they have important information for me regarding my 2021 tax return that can only be accessed via my online account.
I don't have an online account and their system won't allow me to create one ??? Does that mean I have to phone them (again), wait on the line until an agent is free (if ever) or should I just ignore them and wait for a paper statement to arrive in the mail ?
There's a Joseph Heller novel in here somewhere.
😕
 
Possibly a scam, possibly not.
You can opt to forego "paper" notices, in which case CRA will send you an email to check your "My Account" for the actual content of the notice.
CRA now use 2FA for account login, making it more secure than just "password" authentication.
What is the error message that you get when attempting to create a CRA login?
 
Hover your mouse's cursor over any link on the page and check the URL that pops up in the bottom left corner of the screen. I've got money on it not ending in .gov.ca
 
Chris-CJ said:
Possibly a scam, possibly not.
You can opt to forego "paper" notices, in which case CRA will send you an email to check your "My Account" for the actual content of the notice.
CRA now use 2FA for account login, making it more secure than just "password" authentication.
What is the error message that you get when attempting to create a CRA login?
Click to expand...
It won't allow me to create a log-in.
 
Don't click on any links...go to the CRA website and login using your bank credentials...if you have mail, it will show up...otherwise call in the evening as they are less busy...I've called several times and usually get an agent within 15 minutes or so...
 
CRA site had some issues with improper access so they locked down some accounts. Not sure if the lock is cleared yet. As others said, instead of creating a CRA account, it is often easier to go to cra site amd login with online banking credentials. That gets you into cra so you can see if you have messages (you will have new messages as it will have some for received and noa available from past years).
 
ifiddles said:
Don't click on any links...go to the CRA website and login using your bank credentials...if you have mail, it will show up...otherwise call in the evening as they are less busy...I've called several times and usually get an agent within 15 minutes or so...
Click to expand...
The thing that surprised me the most the few times I've called over the years, other then the quick connection to a human, was how friendly the staff actually are. Maybe just luck but out of the 3-4 times I've spoken to CRA reps they have all been helpful and seemed genuinely nice.
 
GreyGhost said:
CRA site had some issues with improper access so they locked down some accounts. Not sure if the lock is cleared yet. As others said, instead of creating a CRA account, it is often easier to go to cra site amd login with online banking credentials. That gets you into cra so you can see if you have messages (you will have new messages as it will have some for received and noa available from past years).
Click to expand...
Tried that too - no go. I just phoned and the wait time is 1.5 to 2 hours. Joke book...
 
DownUnder said:
The thing that surprised me the most the few times I've called over the years, other then the quick connection to a human, was how friendly the staff actually are. Maybe just luck but out of the 3-4 times I've spoken to CRA reps they have all been helpful and seemed genuinely nice.
Click to expand...
You're funny... I got a notice a few years ago that I owed CRA another $42,000 taxes for unreported income of over $145,000.
It took six months to finally get an investigator (in Vancouver ?) to open the file and actually look at it.
5 minutes later, case closed.
He couldn't/wouldn't tell me how they f*cked up.
 
From a friend -
"I was just speaking to a representative yesterday about the online accounts. You see, you need an account code, unless you are accessing this other information that requires an account password, which you can have after we mail it to you, which will take ten business days, and which will automatically expire after 16 months, and if you simply want current personal OR business stuff you only need the one account even though the website still refers to the two accounts and says "need a Code? Click here or contact us", and if you click, you need to know line 109 of a return from the past three years or you can't have a code, and if you do know it, we won't give it to you online, we'll mail it and it will take ten business days, or you can contact us, verbally give the person line 109 information and THEY will mail it to you. Since I do not have access to my Line 109 as I can't get into my account to see it, I had to give them my past 4 addresses including postal code.
It's astonishing how difficult they make everything. How about two-step verification like the rest of the f*cking world? Or heck, ask some questions that a person could actually know the answer to."
 
TK4 said:
From a friend -
"I was just speaking to a representative yesterday about the online accounts. You see, you need an account code, unless you are accessing this other information that requires an account password, which you can have after we mail it to you, which will take ten business days, and which will automatically expire after 16 months, and if you simply want current personal OR business stuff you only need the one account even though the website still refers to the two accounts and says "need a Code? Click here or contact us", and if you click, you need to know line 109 of a return from the past three years or you can't have a code, and if you do know it, we won't give it to you online, we'll mail it and it will take ten business days, or you can contact us, verbally give the person line 109 information and THEY will mail it to you. Since I do not have access to my Line 109 as I can't get into my account to see it, I had to give them my past 4 addresses including postal code.
It's astonishing how difficult they make everything. How about two-step verification like the rest of the f*cking world? Or heck, ask some questions that a person could actually know the answer to."
Click to expand...
The problem is you're trying to setup access. 2FA setup has to be from a position of trust. If I had the SIN number of friends, I could pretend I was them and fill in their previous addresses. Many women seem to carry their SIN card in their purse.

Can the phone person tell you what the correspondence is in regards to? Or if a reply from you is required? The important information may just be that you successfully e-filed it.

You should be able to get line 109 from your tax software (or pile of paperwork if you used a company). Physical mailing adds another layer of protection as even if I have your SIN, old tax return, etc. I need access to your mail to take over the account (and forward your return to me).
 
It's not always line 109. It's some semi-random line from your last tax filing that has a non-zero amount, so you must have access to your previous year's return. I'm not sure what you're supposed to do if you don't have a copy of that return. I got my account code in the snail mail within a couple of days. Presumably they're using snail mail as a form of proof-of-identity, because they'll only send it to the mailing address that was on your last return.

You can access your account using your banking information as described above, but all the interesting details are locked away unless you have the account code.
 
Sounds like a scam, if you have no online account then they will not have your email to send you a notice. Either way they will mail you the info on your tax return NOA (notice of assessment). Even if you had a online account they will still mail it.

Was the email in English and French. All notices I get from CRA are in both languages, this includes the sender, title and body of message are all in E & Fr.

When I log into my personal CRA account they will text me a code I have to enter (after I login), so they have 2 step validation.
 
In previous years you could opt-in to providing an email address without needing a CRA account, so the email is still potentially legit if you or your tax preparer signed you up for it. In the UFile software, opt-in for email notifications is on the same page as the "I authorize CRA to give my contact info to Elections Canada" question.

Note that there are at least 4 different codes with similar names that are all used for completely different purposes:
  • the 2FA code that they text you each time that you log in.
  • the Account Code that they insist on snail mailing to you. This code apparently cannot be changed, and it apparently expires after 16 months. You need this code to see anything useful on the CRA site. It also allows you to automatically fill in most of your information rather than typing it all into your tax software manually.
  • the NETFILE access code, which is an unlabelled 8-character string on your last NoA. Having this isn't mandatory in order to file, but it helps prove your identity if you need to contact them later.
  • your PIN (a six digit number), which I think is only used if you create a CRA login directly on the CRA site (as opposed to using your banking credentials to log in).
 
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