• RC59 - Business Consent

Business Consent

Instructions

Why fill in this form?

Business number (BN) program account information is confidential. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) needs your consent to deal with an individual (for example, an accountant, a lawyer, or an employee), a group, or a firm as your representative for information related to your business accounts. Confidential information includes, but is not limited to, issues related to returns, the status of accounts, account balances, transactions, and correspondence.

Use this form either to consent to the release of, or changes to, confidential information about your business accounts, based on the authorization level you choose, to the named representative, or to cancel consent for an existing representative. For more information on the two levels of authorization, see the instructions for Part 3. You can also give this consent at www.cra.gc.ca/mybusinessaccount. Representatives can manage their own authorizations at www.cra.gc.ca/representatives.

Do not use this form if all of the following apply:

• you are a selected listed financial institution (SLFI) for GST/HST purposes, or QST purposes, or both; and
• you have an RT program account that includes QST information.

Instead, use Form RC7259, Business Consent for Selected Listed Financial Institutions. For more information, including the definition of an SLFI for GST/HST and QST purposes, go to www.cra.gc.ca/slfi.

Do not use this form to authorize a third party to act on your behalf with respect to a tax ruling or interpretation request. For more information, see Income tax information circular IC70-6R6, Advance Income Tax Rulings and Technical Interpretations or GST/HST Memorandum 1.4, Excise and GST/HST Rulings and Interpretation Services.

Can you use this form for your trust or individual tax and benefit accounts?

No, you cannot. This form is for authorizing access to business number program accounts. To authorize a representative on your individual tax and benefit accounts, or trust accounts, use Form T1013, Authorizing or Cancelling a Representative or use the "Authorize my representative" service at www.cra.gc.ca/myaccount. Online access is not available for trust accounts.

List of supported program accounts

You can use only the following program identifiers on this form.

Part 1 – Business information

Enter your business name and business number (BN) as registered with the CRA.

Part 2 – Authorize a representative

(a) Authorize access by telephone and mail

Fill in this part if you want the CRA to deal with your representative by telephone or mail. Enter the name of the individual, the name of the firm and the firm's BN, or an individual in a firm. If you enter only the name of a firm, then all employees of that firm will be authorized to deal with the CRA on your behalf. If you enter the name of an individual and a firm (and its BN), then only that individual of the firm will be authorized. If you are authorizing a representative (individual or firm) who is not registered with "Represent a Client," enter the telephone number of the representative or firm.

(b) Authorize online access

You can authorize your representative to deal with the CRA at www.cra.gc.ca/mybusinessaccount or by completing this form.

You must enter all the information for only one of the following options:

• the RepID, the name of the individual,and their telephone number;
• the GroupID, the name of the group, and their telephone number; or
• the BN, the name of the firm, and their telephone number.

RepID: The RepID is a seven-character alphanumeric code that identifies your representative. Your representative can register for a RepID at www.cra.gc.ca/representatives.

GroupID: A six-character alphanumeric code starting with the letter G that identifies a group of representatives. The group of representatives can register at www.cra.gc.ca/representatives, and give their RepIDs to the group administrator. When the administrator creates a group, the GroupID is assigned.

BN: Enter the BN of the firm you want to authorize. To get online access, the firm has to be registered as a representative through "Represent a Client," at www.cra.gc.ca/representatives.

Our online service does not have a specific fiscal year option, so your representative will have access to all fiscal years. When you authorize online access to your representative, they can also access information by telephone and mail. Your consent will stay in effect until you cancel it or until it reaches the expiry date you choose.

Part 3 – Select the program accounts, fiscal years, and authorization level

A program account number has three parts:

1. a nine-digit business number (BN) to identify the business;
2. a two letter program identifier to identify the program type; and
3. a four-digit reference number to identify each account a business has within a program type.

You can authorize access to all your program accounts or to specific program accounts. Choose one of the following three options:

1. Level 1 authorization applied to all of your program accounts and all fiscal years. Level 1 authorization allows the CRA to only disclose information on your program accounts. You may also automatically expire authorization by entering an expiry date.
2. Level 2 authorization applied to all of your program accounts and all fiscal years. Level 2 authorization allows the CRA to disclose information and accept changes to your program accounts. You may also automatically expire authorization by entering an expiry date.
3. Specific program accounts authorizes access for one or more program accounts, but not all program accounts. If you choose this option, you must read the instructions below and fill in the section called "Details of program accounts and fiscal years" on page 4.

Details of program accounts and fiscal years

Program identifier

Enter a two letter program identifier from the list of supported program accounts.

All program accounts or specific program accounts

You can allow access to all program accounts by ticking the "All reference numbers" box for that program or you can limit the access to a specific program account by entering a specific reference number.

Authorization level

Select the level of authorization you want to give to your representative. Tick Level 1 or Level 2.

• Level 1 allows the CRA to only disclose information.
• Level 2 allows the CRA to disclose information and accept changes to your program accounts.

If you do not make an entry, then we will assume that you have chosen Level 1. This level gives permission to the CRA to only disclose information on your program accounts. For more information on the levels of authorization, go to www.cra.gc.ca/representatives and select "List of services for representatives of businesses."

All fiscal years or specific fiscal year

Tick the box if you want to authorize access for all fiscal years, or enter a specific fiscal year-end date to choose a specific fiscal year.

Specific fiscal year

If you are not authorizing access to all fiscal years, then enter a specific fiscal year-end date. This option is not available for online access.

Expiry date

Enter an expiry date if you want the consent to automatically expire. Your consent will stay in effect until you cancel it or until it reaches the expiry date you choose.

Part 4 – Cancel one or more authorizations

Your consent will stay in effect until you cancel it or until it reaches the expiry date you choose. You can cancel an existing consent by calling us at 1-800-959-5525 or by using the "Authorize or manage representatives" service at www.cra.gc.ca/mybusinessaccount. You can also cancel a consent by completing this form and choosing one of the following options:

• Tick box A to cancel all authorizations.
• Tick box B to cancel all authorizations for an individual, group, or firm. You must provide: the RepID, GroupID, or BN; and the name of the individual, group, or firm.
• Tick box C to cancel all authorizations for a specific program account. Provide the program identifier and the reference number.
• Tick box D to cancel an authorization for a specific individual, group or firm for a specific program account. You must provide: the program identifier and reference number; the RepID, GroupID, or BN; and the name of the individual, group, or firm.

Part 5 – Certification

You must sign and date this form. The CRA must receive this form within six months of the date it was signed or it will not be processed.

This form must only be signed by an individual with proper authority for the business, for example, an owner, a partner of a partnership, a corporate director, a corporate officer, an officer of a non-profit organization, a trustee of an estate, or an individual with delegated authority. An authorized representative cannot sign this form unless they have delegated authority.

If you want the CRA to deal with your delegated authority on behalf of the business on program account related information and to have the ability to add or cancel a representative or another delegated authority, fill in Form RC321, Delegation of Authority.

If the name of the individual signing this form does not exactly match CRA records, this form will not be processed. Forms that cannot be processed, for any reason, will be returned to the business. To avoid processing delays, you must make sure that the CRA has complete and valid information on your business files before you sign this form.

By signing and dating this form, you authorize the CRA to deal with the individual, group, or firm listed in Part 2 of this form in a manner based on the level of authorization provided in Part 3 or cancel an authorization listed in Part 4. We may contact you to confirm the information you have provided.

Changes to the lists of persons with authority

If there has been a change in the list of owners, partners of partnerships, corporate directors, corporate officers, officers of a non-profit organization, trustees of an estate, or individuals with delegated authority, official documentation of the change must be sent to your tax centre before you fill in this form.

Processing times

Our goal is to process RC59 forms within 15 business days of receipt by the CRA. You can also authorize your representative online at www.cra.gc.ca/mybusinessaccount, this will give your representative instant access to the online services to manage your business account.

For more information, visit www.cra.gc.ca or call us at 1-800-959-5525.

Send the completed form to your tax centre

International and Ottawa Tax Services Office

For more information, go to www.cra.gc.ca/international.