Short answer: the CRA still accepts faxes mainly as replies to a letter that prints a fax number, and for some forms whose instructions list one. Returns, payments and anything else go through My Account, Represent a Client, filing software or the mail. Use only a number from CRA correspondence or canada.ca, and quote your reference on every page.
FaxTelecom sends faxes from a web browser to landlines in seven countries, Canada included. It does not receive faxes and does not issue numbers. This guide is general information, not tax advice, and it has no connection to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Why does the CRA still list fax numbers at all?
Most people who deal with the Canada Revenue Agency never touch a fax machine. Online services cover most needs: My Account for individuals, My Business Account for businesses, and Represent a Client for accountants, bookkeepers and family members who have been authorized to act for someone.
Fax survives at the edges. Some taxpayers cannot sign in: a recent arrival without Canadian credit history to verify their identity, an executor dealing with a deceased parent's file, a senior who has never set up a CRA user ID. Some CRA teams also work from correspondence that pre-dates the portals, and their letters still print a fax line beside the mailing address. When that happens, the fax is an option the agency has offered you. It is not a loophole.
Which CRA tasks fit a fax, and which never do?
The table sums up the usual picture. The letter or form you are holding always wins over any general guide, including this one.
| Task | Fax a sensible option? | Usual route |
|---|---|---|
| Filing your T1 income tax return | No | NETFILE-certified software, an EFILE preparer, or a paper return by mail |
| Answering a review letter that lists a fax number | Yes, if the letter offers it | Submit documents in My Account, or the fax number on the letter |
| Paying a balance owing | No | Online banking, My Payment, pre-authorized debit, or in person at Canada Post |
| Authorizing someone to deal with the CRA for you | Depends on the form's current instructions | Represent a Client or My Account; check the form's own instructions before faxing |
| Formal objection to an assessment | Check first | My Account or the mailing address given for objections |
| Anything with no published fax number | No | Find the right route on canada.ca |
The pattern: fax is for sending supporting documents to a file that already exists, at a number the CRA has given you. It is not a way to start a new process or move money.
What deadlines matter when you reply by fax?
A fax is fast, which makes it handy when a date is close. A few CRA deadlines come up again and again for individuals:
- April 30: filing deadline for most individuals, and the payment date for any balance owing.
- June 15: filing deadline if you or your spouse or common-law partner carried on a business, though any balance owing is still due April 30.
- The date printed on a review letter: the CRA usually gives around 30 days to send what it asks for. If you need more time, call the number on the letter before the date passes.
- Objections: for most individuals, 90 days after the date on the notice of assessment or one year after the filing deadline for that year, whichever is later.
A transmission report shows when your fax reached the CRA machine. It does not guarantee when a person picks it up, so leave a margin of a few business days. Remember time zones too. A tax centre runs on its own local time, and a fax sent at 4 p.m. in Vancouver arrives after 7 p.m. in Ontario.
Where do you find the right CRA fax number?
We will not print one here, deliberately. CRA numbers belong to specific teams and specific processes, and a stale number copied from a forum is how documents go missing. Look in these places, in this order:
- The letter you received. Review and request letters usually show a reference or case number and, where applicable, a fax number for replies.
- The form itself. Some forms state where and how to send them in their instructions.
- The matching page on canada.ca. Search for the form number or the program name, not just "CRA fax".
- The CRA phone line on your letter. An agent can confirm whether fax is accepted for your case.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre regularly warns about people posing as the CRA. A number that turns up in an unexpected text, email or call is not a number to send your social insurance number to.
How do you prepare a fax the CRA can match to your file?
A CRA fax machine serves a whole team. Your document has to say on its own whose file it belongs to and why it was sent.
- Put everything in one PDF, in the order the letter lists the items. Scan receipts flat, in black and white or greyscale, at a readable resolution.
- Write your reference number from the letter, plus your name and the last digits of your SIN or business number as the CRA asks, at the top of every page. Loose pages do get separated.
- Add a cover page with the recipient team as named on the letter, the subject ("Response to review, tax year 2025"), the total page count and a daytime phone number. Our free fax cover page generator produces one in a minute.
- Include a copy of the letter's first page if it carries a barcode or reference block. It helps the team route the document.
- Leave out what was not requested. Unrequested documents slow the review and put more personal data on a fax line than you need to.
- Keep the exact PDF you sent and the transmission confirmation in the same folder as the CRA letter.
How does an online fax service handle the CRA?
With FaxTelecom you pick Canada, type the ten-digit number in national format, upload the PDF and confirm by email. A single-page fax is free. Two pages or more cost €3.99 for the whole send, charged in euros, so your card issuer may add a conversion. The optional PDF receipts (€2.99, billed only on successful delivery) give you a request receipt and a transmission receipt, which help if you later have to show you met the CRA's deadline. Our page on faxing to Canada covers number formats and line types, and our guide to fax security explains what is protected and what is not. The upload to our servers is encrypted, but the telephone leg to the CRA machine, like any fax, is not.
Common questions
Can I fax a tax return? No. The CRA does not take T1 returns by fax. Use certified software, a preparer who files electronically, or the mail.
Should I fax and upload the same documents? Pick one channel. Sending twice can create duplicate work items and may slow things down.
Will the CRA fax me back? Don't count on it. Replies normally come by mail or through My Account. FaxTelecom cannot receive faxes either.
For other public bodies, our overview of how to fax a public body sets out the habits that work from one agency to the next. When your documents are ready, you can send your fax from the FaxTelecom home page.
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