Authorize a representative: Overview
New My Trust Account portal for representatives
The CRA has launched My Trust Account, a secure portal that lets legal and authorized representatives of trust accounts manage trust information online. You can securely access My Trust Account services through Represent a Client.
For more information, go to About My Trust Account.
Process for confirming a representative
Authorization requests submitted through Represent a Client or EFILE for business may need to be confirmed by the client from one of the CRA's sign-in services. To learn more about the process and some exceptions, go to Confirm my representative's authorization request.
All electronic authorization requests by representatives for individuals and business clients will not be activated until the representative has been verified. The CRA may contact clients to verify the representative's authorization request.
1. Overview
What your representative can do
When you authorize a representative, you are letting them represent you for your personal tax, business tax, non-resident tax, or trust tax matters.
With authorization, your representative could do one or more of the following:
- access your personal tax information, tax assessment or reassessment
- get information about your business tax accounts
- update some of your business number and program account information
- access your non-resident tax account information
- update some of your non-resident tax account information
- access trust account information
- update trust account information
- verify that they are authorized on your account by referring to their Client List in Represent a Client to verify your name and their authorizations levels (this doesn't apply to non-resident accounts or trust accounts)
Your representative's access to your tax information remains until you or they cancel the access or it expires (if an expiry date was included in the authorization request). Your representative's access won't expire when the CRA is notified of your death, unless they were your legal representative.
For information on how to cancel authorization, go to Cancel authorization for a representative.
What you can do
In My Account, you can:
- once your representative has submitted an authorization request electronically, select the pending request to confirm or deny access to your personal income tax account
- select "Authorized representatives" to view all current representatives authorized on your personal income tax account
- select "View online transactions" to monitor the activities of your representatives on your personal income tax account
- add or delete representatives from your personal income tax account
In My Business Account, you can:
- once your representative has submitted an authorization request electronically, select the pending request to confirm or deny access to your business account
- select "Manage authorized representatives" under your profile to view all current representatives authorized on your business account
- select "Authorize a representative" to authorize a representative on your business account
- select "View transactions" to monitor the activities of your representatives on your business account
- add or delete representatives from your business account
For information regarding corporations, go to Access to corporate tax information.
Who can be my representative
Your representative is a person, a group of people or a business that you authorize to deal with the CRA for you, such as:
- an accountant
- a bookkeeper
- your spouse or common-law partner
- another family member
- a friend
- a lawyer
- a customs broker
- an executor
- a power of attorney
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