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← Curriculum /E-services and digital channels /Level 2

Direct deposit and paying online

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Money moving in both directions generates a steady share of calls, and almost all of them are really questions about timing and about which account the money went to or came from. Direct deposit governs how refunds and benefit payments reach a taxpayer; the online payment options govern how a payment reaches CRA. The two are not symmetrical, and the most consequential asymmetry is that a payment must be directed to the right account and the right program — a payment can arrive at CRA, be entirely genuine, and still leave the taxpayer with an unpaid balance because it landed somewhere else. Understanding where each transaction can go wrong is what lets an agent answer a "where is my money" call in one pass.

How to work through this tutorial

This follows money in both directions: 1. Learn what direct deposit covers and how it is set up or changed. 2. Understand why a change to direct deposit is a security-sensitive transaction. 3. Learn the routes by which a taxpayer can pay CRA. 4. Learn how a payment is directed, and what happens when it is misdirected. 5. Understand the timing of each transaction, and what "paid" means. 6. Work through an example of a payment that arrived and did not count. 7. Check your work against the common errors. 8. Verify every specific against CRA's published guidance before relying on it.

Direct deposit: what it covers and how it changes

Direct deposit sends money CRA owes into a Canadian bank account rather than by cheque. Once enrolled, it applies to the payments CRA makes to that person — refunds and the benefit and credit payments they are entitled to — rather than being set up separately for each. A taxpayer can enrol or update their information through My Account, through their financial institution where the institution offers it, and through other routes CRA publishes. The routes change, so confirm rather than recite. The point to hold on to is that direct deposit information is attached to the taxpayer, and changing it redirects future payments. That makes it one of the highest-value targets on the account, which is the subject of the next section.

Why a deposit change is a security transaction

Consider what a change to direct deposit information does: it redirects future money to a new account. There is no other self-service transaction with that property. That is why a request to change deposit details deserves more care than its apparent triviality suggests, and why an unexpected change on an account is treated as a strong indicator of compromise rather than as an administrative oddity. A taxpayer who calls to say their refund went to an account that is not theirs is very likely reporting a compromised account, not a bank error, and that call belongs on the path covered in the level 3 tutorial. The practical rule for an agent: a change to where money goes is never a small favour to do quickly for a caller who has not been fully verified. The pressure to be helpful is exactly the pressure a fraudulent request is designed to apply.

Paying CRA

The routes run from most to least immediate. **Online banking** through the taxpayer's own financial institution, where CRA is added as a payee. This is the most common route and the one where misdirection happens, because the taxpayer chooses the payee and the account number themselves. **CRA's own online payment service**, which allows a payment to be made directly and directed explicitly. **Pre-authorised debit**, arranged through My Account, where the taxpayer authorises CRA to withdraw an agreed amount on an agreed date — useful for instalments and for arrangements. **Third-party service providers**, which typically charge a fee, and **in person at a financial institution**, which requires a remittance voucher. Each has a different lag between the taxpayer parting with the money and CRA recording it. That lag is what most "I paid and it still says I owe" calls are actually about.

Directing a payment, and misdirection

A payment has to say what it is for. On the individual side that means the taxpayer's account and the right year or purpose — a payment on an arrears balance, an instalment, and a payment on a specific year's balance are not interchangeable. On the business side it means the right program account, because a business may have several. When a payment is directed wrongly it does not vanish. It sits where it was sent. From CRA's side the money is present; from the taxpayer's side the balance they were trying to clear is still outstanding and still accruing interest. Both statements are true at once, which is why these calls feel so unreasonable to the caller. The resolution is a transfer between accounts, which is a request rather than something a taxpayer does themselves. Establishing early in the call that the money is not lost — only in the wrong place — changes the tone of the entire conversation.

A worked example: paid on time, still charged interest

Teaching example. The figures below are invented to show the method. They are not CRA figures, and no amount here should be used for a real taxpayer.

The figures and details in this example are invented for teaching. Nothing here should be quoted as CRA's position. Suppose Tomás owns a small bakery. He has a payroll program account and a GST/HST program account under one business number. He makes a payment of $3,500 through his bank's online banking, intending it for his payroll remittance. He selects a CRA payee, types an account number from a piece of paper on his desk, and pays. The money leaves his bank the same day. Weeks later he gets a notice saying his payroll remittance was not received and interest has been charged. He is certain there has been a mistake, and from his point of view there plainly has: he has a bank record showing $3,500 paid to CRA on the day it was due. The number he typed was his GST/HST program account. The payment arrived, was applied there, and sits as a credit on a program he did not owe. His payroll account was never paid. Nothing was lost and nothing was stolen, and the interest is correctly charged, because the payroll remittance genuinely was not made. What Tomás needs is a transfer between his own accounts, and an explanation that does not begin by telling him he is wrong — because he is right about everything except which of his accounts he paid. The habit to take from this: on any "I paid and it still says I owe" call, ask which account the payment was directed to before anything else.

Common errors

Treating a change of direct deposit information as a routine administrative request. It redirects money. Treating a payment that went to the wrong account as lost. It is present and misapplied, and saying so early changes the call. Assuming a business has one account to pay. It may have several program accounts. Telling a taxpayer their payment "didn't go through" when it went through to somewhere else. Quoting how long a payment takes to appear from memory. Processing times are published and differ by payment method. Assuming interest is waived because a payment was made on time to the wrong place. It generally is not; relief is a separate request. Describing a third-party payment service as a CRA service. It is not, and it usually charges a fee. Forgetting that a refund can be applied to an outstanding balance rather than paid out. Setting up a taxpayer's expectation of a refund date without checking CRA's published processing times.

What to verify this tutorial against

This was drafted without a source document. Payment options and processing times change, and both are published. CRA's "make a payment" pages list the current payment methods for individuals and for businesses, and are the primary reference for the routes described here. CRA's direct deposit pages set out which payments direct deposit covers and the routes for enrolling or changing information. CRA's processing-time guidance is the reference for how long a payment takes to appear on an account by each method, and for refund timing. Do not quote either from memory. CRA's guidance on transferring a payment between accounts covers the resolution in the worked example, including who can request it. CRA's pages on pre-authorised debit set out how it is arranged and cancelled. CRA's taxpayer relief guidance is the reference for whether interest arising from a misdirected payment can be relieved, which is a discretionary question and must not be promised on a call. CRA's guidance on the business number and program accounts explains why a business payment must specify a program account.

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