Paying arrears (taxes owed after assessment)

You may have received a Notice of Assessment, Notice of Reassessment, or a Statement of Account/Remittance, which shows that you owe taxes for 2005 or for a previous year.

How to make a payment

• Include your account number, which is your social insurance number.
• If you make a payment with a cheque that your financial institution does not honour (including a cheque on which you put a "stop payment"), we will charge you a fee.

Electronically

You may be able to pay electronically using your financial institution's telephone or internet banking services. Most financial institutions allow you to schedule future-dated payments. See electronic payments or contact your financial institution.

At your financial institution

You can make your payment free of charge at your Canadian financial institution in Canada. Give the teller your completed remittance voucher (included with your Notice of Assessment, Notice of Reassessment, or Statement of Account). The teller will detach and keep the payment part of the remittance form, then stamp and return the rest to you for your records.

By pre-authorized debits

You may have your payment automatically debited from your bank account by using a pre-authorized debit plan. For information, call 1-888-863-8657, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time.

By mail

You can mail a cheque or money order payable to the Receiver General, along with your completed remittance voucher (included with your Notice of Assessment, Notice of Reassessment, or Statement of Account) to:

Canada Revenue Agency
Ottawa Technology Centre
875 Heron Road
Ottawa, ON K1A 1B1

We accept post-dated cheques.

Making a payment arrangement

You may not be able to pay your balance owing. If so, you may be able to make a payment arrangement using a touch-tone telephone through our TeleArrangement service by calling our toll-free number at 1-866-256-1147. To use this service you will need to provide your social insurance number, your date of birth, and the amount you entered on line 150 from your last return for which you received a Notice of Assessment. TeleArrangement is available Monday to Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Eastern time.

You can also make a payment arrangement by calling one of our agents toll free at 1-888-863-8657. This service is available Monday to Friday, from
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., local time.

We charge daily compound interest at the applicable prescribed rates on any outstanding balance.

Your failure to proceed with timely action to resolve your tax arrears can lead to serious measures by CRA including legal action such as garnisheeing your income or your bank account, or initiating other legal action such as seizing and selling your assets.