A personal journal for writing notes. A greeting card for a special occasion. Pen and paper have their place — just not for your taxes anymore. Increasingly, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is requiring electronic tax filing.
The pandemic, postal strikes, and the continual march of technology have all played their roles in this change. Even if you’re a small business, this mandate is one size fits all. Here’s what you need to know.
I was curious, so I went right to the source. I asked Huumans AI CFO Roy, “Why are small business taxes going digital?”
Of course, Roy answered in a specific and accurate fashion that electronic tax payments benefit everyone through greater efficiency, accuracy, and security.
On a human level, digital tax payments just make sense. No more making copies, going to the bank, or standing in line at the post office. You just hit “approve” and get on with your day.
While business taxes have been moving online over the past few years, here’s what to know for year-end 2025 — and the payments you’ll be making and documents you’ll be filing in the first part of 2026.
On November 3, 2025, the CRA stopped accepting business number and program registration (like payroll or HST) requests by phone. You may now only apply online. (Note: Business Registration Online has an unexpectedly friendly acronym: BRO.)
If you don’t already have one, you’ll need to create a My Business Account. Whether you’re creating a new account or already have a My Business Account, make sure you have a valid contact email address where you can receive notifications, and set reminders to check for notifications regularly.
Rep a Client lets a representative, like an accountant or bookkeeper, access information and services for your business. If you haven’t set it up yet, it’s worth doing. It lets your financial advisors speak with the CRA and handle things on your behalf.
You won’t be able to file any electronic tax returns during this time. The CRA has scheduled maintenance for these systems. The first day you can file is Monday, January 12, 2026.
More than saving time, e-filing is quickly becoming the norm. There are still limited exceptions, such as paper filing if you have fewer than four T4s. But even these minimums are likely not long-lived.
While the expression: there’s an app for that feels a bit cliché. Thankfully, it’s pretty much true, and it makes running a small business a whole lot easier. You can put a lot of your accounting, including payroll, payroll taxes, and business taxes, on autopilot.
Working with a bookkeeper and an accountant adds an extra level of confidence and expertise.
And, now with Huumans, you can also connect all this data, all in one place, where Roy, your AI CFO, can help you look at your data and work even more effectively with your financial advisors. Simplifying taxes is just the start. Now, you can also use that information to guide the year ahead. And you can get started for free.
Fine print changes all the time. We do our best to keep things accurate and helpful, but this blog doesn’t replace your accountant, bookkeeper, or lawyer.
If you catch something off, let us know and we’ll fix it. And if we link to other sites, that’s just us sharing resources — what they say is on them, not us.
