There is no separate "GST login" in Canada. GST/HST lives inside your CRA account, the same sign-in the Canada Revenue Agency uses for other business tax. (A search for GST login also turns up India's GST portal, which is unrelated.) Here is where to sign in, and how to file once you are there.
Which CRA account to use
- My Business Account is for business owners, including partners, directors and officers. It is where you file and manage your own business's GST/HST.
- Represent a Client is for authorized representatives, such as an accountant, a bookkeeper or an employee, acting for one or more businesses.
Both are reached from the CRA sign-in page, which also lists My Account for individuals.
Ways to sign in
- CRA user ID and password.
- Sign-In Partner: you sign in through a participating partner's site, using credentials you already have there.
- Provincial partner: available for British Columbia and Alberta residents.
The CRA also asks for multi-factor authentication, by one-time passcode, passcode grid or an authenticator app.
The first time: add your business
To see a business in your CRA account, link your Social Insurance Number to your business number if you have not already, then sign in, select Add account, choose Business account and enter the nine-digit business number. If you do not have a business number or GST/HST account yet, start with registering for GST/HST.
Ways to file a GST/HST return
Registrants with reporting periods that begin in 2024 or later must file electronically, except charities and selected listed financial institutions. The options:
- Your CRA account (My Business Account or Represent a Client). No access code needed.
- GST/HST NETFILE form on the CRA website. Needs the access code.
- Accounting software that uploads through GST/HST Internet File Transfer. Needs the access code.
- GST/HST TELEFILE by phone. Needs the access code.
- A participating financial institution, through Electronic Data Interchange. No access code needed.
- Paper (forms GST34-2, GST62 or RC7200), mailed to the address on the return, where you are still allowed to file on paper.
Finding your GST/HST access code
The access code is four digits, and you only need it for NETFILE, software filing or TELEFILE. To get it:
- Look in your CRA account. The code is shown in the business account only, not to representatives.
- Change it with the CRA's online access code form, if you have filed a GST/HST return before.
- Call 1-800-959-5525 if neither works (1-866-841-1876 from Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut).
If you have ever received a GST/HST filing package by mail, the code came with it.
In Quebec: Revenu Québec, not the CRA
If your business is physically located in Quebec, the GST/HST is administered by Revenu Québec. You register and file GST/HST returns with Revenu Québec, together with the QST. Its online services for businesses are in My Account for businesses, and your business must first be enrolled in clicSÉQUR to use them. The CRA sign-in is not where a Quebec business files its GST.
Before you file
The return is the easy part. The work is the input tax credits: every dollar of GST or HST you claim back needs a receipt or invoice that shows the supplier and the tax, with the supplier's registration number from $100 up. Smartbills gathers those as they come in: email receipt capture collects emailed invoices and receipts, and the Smartbills app reads each tax line on a paper receipt separately, with the registration number. The GST, HST and QST you paid are ready to total for the period.