Income Tax Payment Options in Canada

RBC shut down their support of Interact Online payments on May 30, 2023 and tried to get me to to sign up for their paid tax filing service to serve as an alternative, so I wanted to highlight all of the no-fee payment methods that individuals and businesses can use to pay their taxes online.

Whether you’re paying as an individual or business, there are a number of ways you can pay your income taxes to the CRA including online, by mail or in-person. The CRA does not accept cryptocurrency, gift cards or cash.

Take note of the payment processing time for the method of payment you choose and make sure the payment is received before the due date to avoid the interest that the CRA charges on the unpaid amount.

The prescribed rate of interest on overdue remittances is an annual rate of 9% in 2023, compound daily. The rates are recalculated quarterly.

Individuals

There are 3 ways for individuals to pay income taxes online for free in Canada:

• Online banking
• Pre-authorized debit through CRA My Account
• CRA’s My Payment

Online banking

• Processing time: Considered paid on same or next business day, usually received within 5 business days
• Accepts: Payments from chequing accounts
• Participating institutions

How to

1. Log in to your bank account
2. Add a (bill) payee
3. Search for “CRA” and look for “CRA (revenue) – 2022 tax return” or “CRA (revenue) – tax amount owing”
4. Enter your 9-digit social insurance number (SIN) as the account number

Pre-authorized debit (PAD) through CRA My Account

• Processing time: 5 business days
• Accepts: Payment from Canadian chequing account, Interac Online cards, Visa Debit, and Debit Mastercard, but not credit cards.

How to

1. Sign in to your CRA My Account
2. Select Accounts and payments in the sidebar menu
3. Click Manage pre-authorized debit
4. Click Schedule payment(s)
5. Select payment type (Individual income tax (T1), repayment, etc.)
6. Select payment allocation (Installments, amount owing, etc.)
7. Enter the Branch number, Institution number and Bank account number of the Canadian chequing account
8. Review and submit

CRA’s My Payment

• Processing time: Considered paid on same or next business day
• Accepts: Interac Online cards, Visa Debit, and Debit Mastercard, but not credit cards.
• Participating institutions:
  • Visa Debit: CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, TD
  • Debit Mastercard: BMO
  • Interact Debit: TD Canada Trust and a number of credit unions provide payment through Interact Debit. RBC removed the option to make payments through Interac Online on May 30, 2023. As an alternative, they suggest one of their products: RBC Virtual Visa Debit.

How to

1. Select payment type (income tax, repayment, etc.)
2. Select payment allocation (instalment, amount owing, etc.)
3. Enter your SIN and the payment amount
4. Select method of payment
5. Enter payment details
6. Review and submit

Businesses

There are 3 ways to pay your business taxes (corporate income, HST, etc.) online for free in Canada:

• Online banking
• Pre-authorized debit through CRA My Account
• CRA’s My Payment

Online banking

1. Log in to your business bank account
2. Add a (bill) payee
3. Search for “CRA” and look for an option such as:
   • Federal – Corporation Tax Payments – TXINS
   • Federal – GST/HST Payment – GST-P (GST-P)
4. Enter your 15-digit business number as the account number

While it offers this option for individuals, RBC does not offer this option for businesses, even though it is listed as one of the participating financial institutions on the CRA’s website:

Pre-authorized debit (PAD) through CRA account

• Processing time: 5 business days
• Accepts: Payment from Canadian chequing account, Interac Online cards, Visa Debit, and Debit Mastercard, but not credit cards.

1. Sign in to your CRA My Business Account
2. Click the account: Income Tax (RT0001), HST (RC0001), etc.)
3. Click “View and pay account balance”
4. Enter the amount and click Proceed to Pay
5. Select how to pay and schedule a single payment or series of payments
6. Enter the Branch number, Institution number and Bank account number of the Canadian chequing account
7. Review and submit

CRA My Payment

• Processing time: Considered paid on same or next business day
• Accepts: Interac Online cards, Visa Debit, and Debit Mastercard, but not credit cards.
• Participating institutions:
  • Visa Debit: CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, TD
  • Debit Mastercard: BMO
  • Interact Debit: TD Canada Trust and a number of credit unions provide payment through Interact Debit. RBC removed the option to make payments through Interac Online on May 30, 2023. As an alternative, they suggest one of their products: RBC Virtual Visa Debit.

How to

1. Select payment type (corporate income tax, repayment, luxury tax, underused housing tax, etc.)
2. Select payment allocation (instalment, amount owing, etc.)
3. Enter your business number and the payment amount
4. Select method of payment
5. Enter payment details
6. Review and submit

RBC removes option to make payment through Interac Online

As of May 30, 2023, RBC removed the option for individuals and businesses to pay their taxes through online banking using Interact Online Payments. This happened around the same time that they increased the monthly fee for the account from $5 to $9.

Paying via online banking by adding the CRA as a payee isn’t an option either, so there is no longer a way to pay business taxes through RBC business bank accounts online without paying for their Tax Filing Service.

Bank tax filing service fees

RBC and Scotiabank charge business owners a $25 setup fee to register for the tax file & pay service in addition to a $2 minimum monthly fee plus a fee of $2 per transaction. The monthly fee is waived if at least one tax payment is made that month.

TD Bank and CIBC currently charge a $2 transaction fee but no monthly or setup fees.

Other payment methods for individuals and businesses

Credit card or Interac e-transfer payments through PaySimply

• Processing time: Varies based on payment option
• Accepts: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Union Pay, PayPal, and Interac e-Transfer
• Fee: Varies by payment method

PaySimply is a third-party service provider listed (but not endorsed) that will let you pay taxes for a fee using:

How to

1. Go to PaySimply and enter your SIN or Business Number
2. Select the payment type
3. Enter your personal information and payment amount
4. Select the payment method
5. Enter your postal code
6. Enter your payment details
7. Review and submit

In-person

Bank

Pay at your Canadian bank, financial institution, or credit union using a printed personalized remittance voucher. You can order them or print your own.

Canada Post location

• Processing time: Considered paid as of the date stamped (same day)
• Accepts: Debit, cash
• Fee: $3.95 to $7.95 depending on how the payment amount:

How to

1. Go to PaySimply and enter your SIN or Business Number
2. Get your payment QR code
3. Select where to send the QR code: Email, Mobile, print
4. Bring the QR code to any Canada Post location

All of your personal information is hidden in the QR code and the clerk cannot see it.

Pay without a Canadian bank account with a wire transfer

For non-residents who need to make a payment to the CRA and do not have a Canadian bank account.

• Processing time: Considered paid on same or next business day (typically 3 business days to process)
• Accepts: Foreign bank accounts
• Fee: Varies by bank

Mail a cheque

• Processing time: Considered paid once received by the CRA (allow time for mail delivery)
• Accepts: Cheque from Canadian bank account, money order

How to

1. Write a cheque for the amount payable to the Receiver General for Canada
2. Place it and remittance voucher or payment form in an envelope
3. If you do not have a remittance voucher, write your SIN, business number or tax account number in the memo field of the cheque
4. Include any additional instructions on a separate sheet of paper
5. Mail the cheque, remittance voucher and additional instructions to the CRA at:

Canada Revenue Agency
PO Box 3800 STN A
Sudbury ON P3A 0C3

Note: The payment is considered paid on the date that the CRA receives your payment, so mail payments well in advance