Represent a client - new electronic service for representatives

Represent a client is one of the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA's) new electronic services. Launched in February 2006, Represent a client is designed for representatives, including businesses that represent individuals for their tax affairs. The service enables authorized representatives to authenticate, register and ultimately transact online on behalf of their individual clients. The service allows clients, friends, family members, or neighbours to authorize a person or a business to be their representative.

How do you use Represent a client?

To use this service, you have to:

• log in with your epass
• register yourself or your business with the CRA as a representative
• give your Business Number (BN) or RepID (generated when you register for this service) to your client, friend, or family member so they can authorize you to use the service; and
• be authorized by that client, friend, or family member

How do you access Represent a client?

• You will need information from your last Notice of Assessment to identify yourself to the CRA to get an epass. All representatives using this service need an epass.
• If you are a representative, you have to register to use the service. At the end of the online registration, you will receive a RepID.
• If you are a business owner, you have to give the CRA your Business Number (BN) so that we can verify your authority to register your business as a representative.
• After a business is registered, business owners are able to link employees who have registered and received RepIDs to the business using a process called Associating RepIDs. Associating RepIDs to a business identifies which employees will transact online for clients who authorize the business as their representative. Alternatively, business owners may assign this task to an administrator by associating an employee's RepID as a junior or senior administrator.

How do clients authorize a representative?

• After a business or person is registered with the Represent a client service, they will then give their BN or individual RepID to their clients, who will use this information to authorize a representative.
• Using the BN will authorize all employees associated with a business, while using the RepID will identify specific representatives.
• Clients can authorize their representatives either online through the My Account service or on paper using the CRA's Form T1013, Authorizing or Cancelling a Representative, which has an area allowing for the entry of either the BN or the RepID, as the client chooses.

More information

You can get more information on this service from the CRA Web site at www.cra.gc.ca.

This document is also available for download in .pdf format.