Understanding Business Number in Сanada Business Number is a unique identifier that is being used by every business in Canada for the purpose of tax reporting and participation in various tax programs. There is certain difference between Business Number of a corporation and the Sole Proprietorship. Corporate Business Number is being issued automatically upon incorporation and accompanies the corporation for the duration of its existence. In a case of a Sole Proprietorship individuals will be using their SIN for the tax reporting, where their business income is reported as a personal income from business activities. As a Sole Proprietorship you can request CRA to issue you a separate BN to be used for business transactions. Similarly, Business Number will be issued when requesting CRA to register for HST, payroll and other programs. I would suggest to request a separate BN upon the very commencement of the operations so you do not disclose your SIN to everyone you are dealing with on a business level. Most business will use the following 4 programs: - RC represents the regular corporate income tax program and is being assigned to all corporations by default. - RP represents payroll account and should be used once the business start paying salary to its employees (even to the shareholders if they want to be paid by salary). With this program, a business will be reporting and remitting source deductions and contributions to the CRA. - RT represents HST program. There are various rules for the mandatory and voluntary registration for the HST program. Once my video on this topic is published, I will post here the link. - RM represents import/export program which should be used by all businesses engaged in commercial import/export operations. This is the number that your customs broker will be using to report to customs and CBSA upon the goods crossing the border. You can contact CRA directly by the phone number 1-800-959-5525 Payroll and Import/Export accounts do not require any special reporting or maintenance until you actually need them. That is why I would just register for them and start using whenever I need to. Discuss with your accountant whether an early voluntary registration for HST will be a goof thing for your business - it might result in significant savings and cash refunds from a government. While working with your clients and issuing invoices and receipts, you must provide your Business Number. The same applies to your vendors - make sure they all provide you with their Business Number. To validate the HST number use this link and provide the requested information: www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agen... Our website - cbes.ca/ Facebook - facebook.com/CanadianBiz LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/company/cbes
Good video but I would add a detail about the 0001 at the end of the BN It is not important for most corporations, but the 0001 indicates that it's the primary or main corporate business number. If a large corporation chooses to operate under different trade names (perhaps in different regions or different industries), it may choose to register multiple CRA accounts 0002, 0003 and so on.
That is correct. And thank you for the clarification, hopefully some of the visitors will find it helpful. As I say in the video, I've seen 0002 only once during my 10 years of practicing in Canada...
Thanks for your informative video its very helpful. I have one question I am going to start working as trailor driver as self employed and company asking business no. And corporate name so which one I should share fedral business number or provincial OCN/BIN. pls suggest really thankful to you.
You have your federal articles of incorporation - this is the document you provide to your clients, this is the "passport" of your company. and then you provide the BN, which was emailed to you by CRA as a part of incorporation process. You usually do not provide your corporation number (federal or ontario) to anyone except for various government agencies.
Apparently as of 2021 you cannot obtain the business number by phone. The only option is to wait for them to mail it to you after registration (10 business days) or by using the RC1 form which can take up to 4 weeks. I appears no longer possible for someone to spin up a new business in 2 weeks.
As the CRA website (updated 03.2021) says, you can still call them to obtain a BN 1-2 business days after the registration. But I personally did not try. www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/registering-your-business/corporation-income-tax-program-account.html
@@businessincanada-doitright1822 Thanks. I may try to hold their feet to the fire and puttting this document in their face. Each person I talk to at RevCan say slightly different things. Seems a bit chaotic.
@@PeterDrinnan I always try with various agents. In my opinion, they frequently do not know what to do and what are the rules. If an agent is not cooperative, I would just hang up the phone and redial 5 minutes later ..
@@businessincanada-doitright1822 After severeral attempts today including one with heated word on both sides, it appears the revcan policies have changed but they have not updated their website to reflect that. I was told that 95 our of 100 times there is not enough information to do a clearance check over the phone so they cannot give you the information. The only option is to use an RC1 form that takes 4 weeks. I am about to lose a 12 month contract because of this. What a pain.
What is a sole proprietorship B.I.N? Business Identification number and it’s not the same as SIN and it’s not from the CRA. It’s from the province of Ontario.
Could you please explain: if I first register a sole proprietor with a separate business #, and then I decide to extend my business into incorporated (ltd); what are steps to do this? Thank you for work and time!
You technically stop using your current BN, which is associated with you personally, and start operating under a new BN, which will be issued for your corporation (which is a separate person for tax purposes). There are no special steps to do, simply decide when you stop operating the sole proprietorship (preferably December 31 to avoid splitting the first year of the corporation's existence into two separate tax reporting) - you retain all the financial records until that date and file your personal business income tax return as usual. From that date on, you only operate your corporation for the business purposes and apply all future income/expenses to the corporation. It makes sense to discuss with your accountant the issues of "transfer of business assets" from your SP to a corporation, which might be beneficial from a tax perspective in the future.
When you apply to incorporate, you should also include a letter of consent stating that you, as the owner of the sole proprietorship, give permission for your new corporation to use the name. And include in the letter that you undertake to stop carrying on business under your sole proprietorship business name. If you own more than one similar named sole proprietorship you will have to submit a consent letter for each one. Then after you get your new certificate of incorporation, you call CRA and cancel your old bn and use the corporate bn going forward - also optionally open any tax/payroll/import/export account you need on same phone call with CRA (no charge for this) If you submit application without consent letters they will contact you asking you to provide them, which is just a bit of a hassle and causes a few days delay. I just went through this. ....You can then optionally register any trade-names you want to operate under sample consent letter (copy- paste): --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Director General, Corporations Canada 235 Queen Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H5 ____________________________ [your typed or printed name]
I have a question I can't seem to get a solid answer researching. Is it allowed to use a "virtual office" to register a corporation? I live in a rural area where there is only PO boxes, and a virtual office in the city seems like an affordable option to get started. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
In my opinion, this is allowed. You need to provide a regular postal address during the incorporation. The idea is that legal correspondence could be sent there. So virtual office is more than fit for the purpose.
this was a excellent video , and thank you! I do have a question. I'm in Ont, and I have a BN number under my own name. and I want to start a new business under a new business name. lets says its abc.ca, If I register a new business for my abc.ca business, will I see it when I log into my business CRA account?
Hi Freddy, in response to two of your questions: 1. Do not confuse MBL with a BN - they are not directly related to each other. When registering a MBL, you essentially only register a name under which you will be operating your name. CRA is not aware of it and does not issue a BN automatically. You have to call CRA business contact number - 18009595525 and ask for the business to be issued. You can request an HST number at the same time if needed. Otherwise, you will be filing your taxes under your personal SIN. 2. You can operate two and more businesses under one entity, so you can register additional MBL for a separate business project, but it still will be operating under the same BN since the entity did not change.
Hello sir. Sorry, if I am asking the question you may have given answer in the video. My question is, I have just registered for sole pro. When should I get my HST no.? Am I eligible to get one? Can I get my HST no. as soon as possible?
Pankti, first of all, the HST rules do not depend on the type of business entity SP or corporation. Initially, you have to see if what you do is covered by HST (some industries are exempt). Then you have a mandatory requirement to register if you reach $30k sales (revenues) in 12 months period. And you must register as soon as you get to 30k. But you can also choose a voluntary registration and register as soon as you want. Simply call the CRA at 18009595525. Good luck.
Boomer, depends which BN - BN itself does not cost anything, but in most cases you need either to incorporate or register a master business license to operate your business - these do cost. Most of these costs are one-time payments with very minor recurring costs if at all. For example MBL costs $60 in Ontario and you renew it every 5 years, so boils down to $12 per year.
I just started watching all of your videos, so thank you so much for them. Just confused about one thing. I'm a sole proprietor with a BN/HST and also have a regular job. Do I need to claim all of my income (business and personal) and then again file my business income prior to filing for hst? I didn't think so but checked my CRA business account and it says I'm not up to date with my filing :(
Understanding Business Number in Сanada
Business Number is a unique identifier that is being used by every business in Canada for the purpose of tax reporting and participation in various tax programs.
There is certain difference between Business Number of a corporation and the Sole Proprietorship. Corporate Business Number is being issued automatically upon incorporation and accompanies the corporation for the duration of its existence.
In a case of a Sole Proprietorship individuals will be using their SIN for the tax reporting, where their business income is reported as a personal income from business activities. As a Sole Proprietorship you can request CRA to issue you a separate BN to be used for business transactions. Similarly, Business Number will be issued when requesting CRA to register for HST, payroll and other programs. I would suggest to request a separate BN upon the very commencement of the operations so you do not disclose your SIN to everyone you are dealing with on a business level.
Most business will use the following 4 programs:
- RC represents the regular corporate income tax program and is being assigned to all corporations by default.
- RP represents payroll account and should be used once the business start paying salary to its employees (even to the shareholders if they want to be paid by salary). With this program, a business will be reporting and remitting source deductions and contributions to the CRA.
- RT represents HST program. There are various rules for the mandatory and voluntary registration for the HST program. Once my video on this topic is published, I will post here the link.
- RM represents import/export program which should be used by all businesses engaged in commercial import/export operations. This is the number that your customs broker will be using to report to customs and CBSA upon the goods crossing the border.
You can contact CRA directly by the phone number 1-800-959-5525
Payroll and Import/Export accounts do not require any special reporting or maintenance until you actually need them. That is why I would just register for them and start using whenever I need to. Discuss with your accountant whether an early voluntary registration for HST will be a goof thing for your business - it might result in significant savings and cash refunds from a government.
While working with your clients and issuing invoices and receipts, you must provide your Business Number. The same applies to your vendors - make sure they all provide you with their Business Number.
To validate the HST number use this link and provide the requested information:
www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agen...
Our website - cbes.ca/
Facebook - facebook.com/CanadianBiz
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/company/cbes
Very good information. Thank you!
Hello! I've been watching some of your videos. I just want to thank you because they are really useful. I've learned a lot about Business in Canada.
Very helpful information. Thank you for sharing this valuable information.
Your videos are very informative thank you
Very useful video...thanks
Good video but I would add a detail about the 0001 at the end of the BN
It is not important for most corporations, but the 0001 indicates that it's the primary or main corporate business number.
If a large corporation chooses to operate under different trade names (perhaps in different regions or different industries), it may choose to register multiple CRA accounts 0002, 0003 and so on.
That is correct. And thank you for the clarification, hopefully some of the visitors will find it helpful. As I say in the video, I've seen 0002 only once during my 10 years of practicing in Canada...
thank you for the information
great video! really helpful
Thanks for your informative video its very helpful. I have one question I am going to start working as trailor driver as self employed and company asking business no. And corporate name so which one I should share fedral business number or provincial OCN/BIN. pls suggest really thankful to you.
You have your federal articles of incorporation - this is the document you provide to your clients, this is the "passport" of your company. and then you provide the BN, which was emailed to you by CRA as a part of incorporation process. You usually do not provide your corporation number (federal or ontario) to anyone except for various government agencies.
I have a business number already but I lost copy. Now I need my BN but don't know. How could I recover it? Please help me
Sharon, just call CRA and they will give it to you on the spot. 18009595525
Apparently as of 2021 you cannot obtain the business number by phone. The only option is to wait for them to mail it to you after registration (10 business days) or by using the RC1 form which can take up to 4 weeks. I appears no longer possible for someone to spin up a new business in 2 weeks.
As the CRA website (updated 03.2021) says, you can still call them to obtain a BN 1-2 business days after the registration. But I personally did not try.
www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/registering-your-business/corporation-income-tax-program-account.html
@@businessincanada-doitright1822 Thanks. I may try to hold their feet to the fire and puttting this document in their face. Each person I talk to at RevCan say slightly different things. Seems a bit chaotic.
@@PeterDrinnan I always try with various agents. In my opinion, they frequently do not know what to do and what are the rules. If an agent is not cooperative, I would just hang up the phone and redial 5 minutes later ..
@@businessincanada-doitright1822 After severeral attempts today including one with heated word on both sides, it appears the revcan policies have changed but they have not updated their website to reflect that. I was told that 95 our of 100 times there is not enough information to do a clearance check over the phone so they cannot give you the information. The only option is to use an RC1 form that takes 4 weeks. I am about to lose a 12 month contract because of this. What a pain.
@@PeterDrinnan why would you lose a contract??? Give me a call, I'm sure there is a solution to it ..
What is a sole proprietorship B.I.N? Business Identification number and it’s not the same as SIN and it’s not from the CRA. It’s from the province of Ontario.
Mindbuildingsolutions approved!
Excellent video and content.
Hi! Do I need a business number if I buy wholesales from other countries for small online business?
Could you please explain: if I first register a sole proprietor with a separate business #, and then I decide to extend my business into incorporated (ltd); what are steps to do this? Thank you for work and time!
You technically stop using your current BN, which is associated with you personally, and start operating under a new BN, which will be issued for your corporation (which is a separate person for tax purposes).
There are no special steps to do, simply decide when you stop operating the sole proprietorship (preferably December 31 to avoid splitting the first year of the corporation's existence into two separate tax reporting) - you retain all the financial records until that date and file your personal business income tax return as usual.
From that date on, you only operate your corporation for the business purposes and apply all future income/expenses to the corporation.
It makes sense to discuss with your accountant the issues of "transfer of business assets" from your SP to a corporation, which might be beneficial from a tax perspective in the future.
@@businessincanada-doitright1822 I apreciate your detailed and professional answer! Thank you!
When you apply to incorporate, you should also include a letter of consent stating that you, as the owner of the sole proprietorship, give permission for your new corporation to use the name. And include in the letter that you undertake to stop carrying on business under your sole proprietorship business name. If you own more than one similar named sole proprietorship you will have to submit a consent letter for each one.
Then after you get your new certificate of incorporation, you call CRA and cancel your old bn and use the corporate bn going forward - also optionally open any tax/payroll/import/export account you need on same phone call with CRA (no charge for this)
If you submit application without consent letters they will contact you asking you to provide them, which is just a bit of a hassle and causes a few days delay. I just went through this.
....You can then optionally register any trade-names you want to operate under
sample consent letter (copy- paste):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Director General, Corporations Canada
235 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H5
____________________________
[your typed or printed name]
Hi ive been watching your videos lately...im about to get me a tax number for an e commerce(selling online)...should i need a buisness number too?
Is a Tax ID # the same as the BN #???
I have a question I can't seem to get a solid answer researching. Is it allowed to use a "virtual office" to register a corporation? I live in a rural area where there is only PO boxes, and a virtual office in the city seems like an affordable option to get started. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
In my opinion, this is allowed. You need to provide a regular postal address during the incorporation. The idea is that legal correspondence could be sent there. So virtual office is more than fit for the purpose.
this was a excellent video , and thank you! I do have a question. I'm in Ont, and I have a BN number under my own name. and I want to start a new business under a new business name. lets says its abc.ca, If I register a new business for my abc.ca business, will I see it when I log into my business CRA account?
Hi Freddy, in response to two of your questions:
1. Do not confuse MBL with a BN - they are not directly related to each other. When registering a MBL, you essentially only register a name under which you will be operating your name. CRA is not aware of it and does not issue a BN automatically. You have to call CRA business contact number - 18009595525 and ask for the business to be issued. You can request an HST number at the same time if needed. Otherwise, you will be filing your taxes under your personal SIN.
2. You can operate two and more businesses under one entity, so you can register additional MBL for a separate business project, but it still will be operating under the same BN since the entity did not change.
Hello sir. Sorry, if I am asking the question you may have given answer in the video. My question is,
I have just registered for sole pro. When should I get my HST no.? Am I eligible to get one? Can I get my HST no. as soon as possible?
Pankti, first of all, the HST rules do not depend on the type of business entity SP or corporation.
Initially, you have to see if what you do is covered by HST (some industries are exempt).
Then you have a mandatory requirement to register if you reach $30k sales (revenues) in 12 months period. And you must register as soon as you get to 30k.
But you can also choose a voluntary registration and register as soon as you want.
Simply call the CRA at 18009595525.
Good luck.
@@businessincanada-doitright1822 thank you so much...
Do you resgester cooperation for clients ?
Yes, this is what we do most of the time. Please email me for more information: eugene.j@cbes.ca
immigrant can obtain business number ?
Is there a fee to register a business number and if yes, would it be a one-time fee or annual?
Boomer, depends which BN - BN itself does not cost anything, but in most cases you need either to incorporate or register a master business license to operate your business - these do cost. Most of these costs are one-time payments with very minor recurring costs if at all.
For example MBL costs $60 in Ontario and you renew it every 5 years, so boils down to $12 per year.
I just started watching all of your videos, so thank you so much for them. Just confused about one thing. I'm a sole proprietor with a BN/HST and also have a regular job. Do I need to claim all of my income (business and personal) and then again file my business income prior to filing for hst? I didn't think so but checked my CRA business account and it says I'm not up to date with my filing :(
Mindbuildingsolutions approved!
Excellent video and content.