Canada Revenue Customer Service

Phone Number & Contact Info

Canada Revenue's Best Phone Number

800-959-8281
Toll-free·Calls Customer Service·Most popular Canada Revenue number·We talk to customer service for you·Skip the wait on hold·Call now
Q:

How do I talk to a live human at Canada Revenue?

A:Press 1 then * at each prompt. You can also use our free service that can talk to Canada Revenue for you and report back.
Q:

Does Canada Revenue offer 24 hour customer service?

A:Not at this number; hours here are Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm EST. The least busy day is Friday, and the most busy day is Wednesday. If the call center is closed, you can schedule a call.
Q:

How long will I wait on hold?

A:The average hold time is 59 minutes. The longest hold times are on Friday, and the shortest are on Monday. You can skip the hold time for free.

Canada Revenue Customer Phone Numbers

Business Accounts

800-959-5525
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 9am-5pm EST · For Business Services, press * at each prompt · · Free tools available: Talk for me, Skip the wait, Schedule my call

French Customer Service

800-959-7383
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 9am-5pm EST · Press 1 then * when the robot starts talking · · Free tools available: Talk for me, Skip the wait, Schedule my call

GST/HST Credit

800-959-1953
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 9am-5pm EST · Call this number for questions about GST/HST Credits. Just wait, don't press anything even if asked for a "valid response" · · Free tools available: Talk for me, Skip the wait, Schedule my call

Summerside Tax Center

800-959-1954
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 9am-5pm EST · Do nothing when prompted for your SS number (twice) and you will get to a human · · Free tools available: Talk for me, Skip the wait, Schedule my call

eServices Helpdesk

800-714-7257
Toll-free · Mon-Fri 9am-5pm EST · Press 1 then * at each prompt · · Free tools available: Talk for me, Skip the wait, Schedule my call

How do I get through the phone menu to a live person?

Consider using our free service that calls and talks to customer service for you, then sends you a report. Or use our free service that waits on hold and tells you when a human rep is on the line. But if those options don't appeal to you, our team has also documented the phone menu for Canada Revenue below.

Let us call and talk to Canada Revenue for you

Our AI powered phone can dial, navigate the phone menu, wait on hold, and even talk to customer service for you, for free. You don't even need to learn about the path through the various phone options.

We can get a live person on the line for you

That same, free GetHuman Phone can call and navigate the menus and wait on hold for you, but you can opt to do all the talking. We notify you when a rep is on the line and ready to talk, so no need to worry about changing menu options and weaving your way through the maze.
Of course, we completely understand if you prefer to do all the dialing, waiting, and talking yourself. All of these free tools are optional.
GetHuman researchers routinely call this Canada Revenue phone number to document the phone system.
Here is our latest tip for weaving through the phone menu to get to a real person the fastest: Press 1 then * at each prompt.
Below are some clips we've found from Canada Revenue's phone menus and tips that help give an idea of what you will encounter when you call. We've highlighted why they are important as well:

Heard when the phone system first answers

"You for calling the Canada Revenue Agency's individual tax inquiry service. Please listen carefully to our menu before you make a selection as some of the options have changed. Please choose one of the following five options. For online services, including unlocking my account, press one. For forms or publications, press two."
Excerpt from a call with Canada Revenue
Wednesday, January 3, 2024 4:49 PM

The first phone menu

"You for calling the Canada Revenue Agency's individual tax inquiry service. Please choose one of the following five options. For estates and trusts, to up update your personal information or all other inquiries, press five. To repeat this message, press star.
For online services, including unlocking my account, press one.
For forms or publications, press two."
Excerpt from a call with Canada Revenue
Friday, May 31, 2024 10:52 AM

After you press 1

"For registered plans or the tax free savings account, press three.
If you need help registering for my account, press one."
Excerpt from a call with Canada Revenue
Thursday, April 11, 2024 4:54 PM

After you press 4

"For estates and trusts, to update your personal info if you are not able to meet your tax due to the twenty twenty four wildfires in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Northwest Territories, taxpayer relief requests can be made by telephone for the cancellation of penalty and interest. To repeat this message, press star. Or to return to the main menu, press pound.
For your account balance, how to make a payment, or about misallocated payments, press one.
For your income tax refund, press two."
Excerpt from a call with Canada Revenue
Tuesday, June 4, 2024 5:10 PM

What are the hours and when should I call?

Canada Revenue operates the call center for this 800-959-8281 phone number Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm ET. The short answer is that you should call on a Friday. This observation and the following section are based on analysis of a sample set of 198 calls made in the last 90 days using our free, web-based phone (see above).

Automatically call when they open

When you use our free AI-powered phone to call and talk, wait on hold, or navigate for you, it will automatically wait until the Canada Revenue call center opens before trying to call. It will ask your permission before it places the call, so you can also further delay that scheduled call until you are ready. But that means you can "set it and forget it" ahead of time.
An important note: busy times vs hold times vs best time to call
When we refer to busy or less busy times, we are talking about the volume of calls. The busiest times are when the most people are calling this Canada Revenue phone number (least busy times have fewer people calling). This high call volume does not necessarily mean that you will have a long hold time when you call. Companies like Canada Revenue staff their call centers differently based on the time of day and day of the week, so you may experience a shorter wait on hold at the busiest of times. When we refer to the best time to call, we are referring to the optimal combination of lower call volume and shorter wait times.

The least busy time to call

The least busy day to call Canada Revenue is Friday. The most busy day to call is Wednesday, which averages 36% more phone calls by comparison. Again, this is based on a sample of 198 calls made with our AI-powered, web-based phone in the last 90 days.
Mon
Tue
Wed
Busiest
Thu
Fri
Quietest

The shortest wait on hold

We measured the shortest hold times to be on Monday. The longest wait in the queue on average occurs on Friday.
But if you use our free call and talk for me or wait on hold for me service, you don't really need to worry about average wait times.

The best time to call Canada Revenue

In summation, the best day to call Canada Revenue is Friday. This is not the day with the shortest wait on hold in the phone system, but we still recommend it for its ideal combination of low call volume and short hold times. Plus we believe that Canada Revenue staffs the call center well on Friday.

Why Customers Call Canada Revenue

If you have time to do a bit of reading before you call Canada Revenue, we recommend you read over some of our problem-specific articles.

What is Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)?

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is the federal agency responsible for administering tax laws, collecting taxes, and enforcing compliance with tax legislation. It is an independent organization that operates under the federal government. The CRA manages various tax programs and initiatives, including the collection of income tax, goods and services tax (GST), and other levies. It also administers benefits and credits, such as the Canada Child Benefit and the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) credit. The CRA ensures individuals and businesses comply with tax laws by auditing tax returns and conducting investigations when necessary. Additionally, the CRA provides helpful resources, information, and online services to assist taxpayers in understanding and fulfilling their tax obligations.

Top Canada Revenue customer service problems

Click the link above to get answers to just about any Canada Revenue customer service question, including step by step guides for the most complex issues. You can also detail a new issue and get answers instantly.
Below is a sample of recent calls to Canada Revenue, and their purpose. Are any of these similar to the reason you are trying to call?
Tax return assistance: "I'm calling about my tax return reference number and need help with line #20."
- From a call lasting 119m 36s , Jul 17, 2024 1:21 PM
General small talk: "Thank you. How's everything? You're."
- From a call lasting 8m 25s , Jul 16, 2024 3:40 PM
Assistance with accessing CRA account: "My wife was locked out of her CRA account and we need help getting back in to see what's going on in her account."
- From a call lasting 166m 57s , Jun 17, 2024 2:38 PM
Update contact information: "I'm just looking if I can my email added so that I can get it through my email."
- From a call lasting 18m 21s , Mar 7, 2024 10:25 PM
Assistance with tax documents: "I'm on disability. I don't know what this is."
- From a call lasting 19m 40s , Feb 7, 2024 6:48 PM
Seeking verification of letter: "I'm just trying to confirm this is actually a letter from you guys, or am I this guy they're just trying to take me for, like, sixty thousand dollars to be able to release this money."
- From a call lasting 31m 32s , Feb 6, 2024 11:42 PM
Technical phone issue: "My phone's bugger. I thought I sorry for your name."
- From a call lasting 15m 28s , Feb 5, 2024 5:46 PM
Inquiring about government payments: "I was just wondering, I do get GST this month, is there any other type of money that's gonna be coming into effect this month too, or is it just the GST?"
- From a call lasting 5m 30s , Jan 3, 2024 4:49 PM

More Canada Revenue Customer Service Contacts

There are of course other ways to contact Canada Revenue customer service besides the phone. Below we list the best ones, by medium.

Canada Revenue Customer Help Desk / Web Support

cra-arc.gc.ca - Customer Service
Online customer service support
As a last, sometimes only, resort- Canada Revenue customer service can be accessed through their website. This can entail digging through help articles before finding a form and "being allowed" to submit a problem to their team, and rarely leads to a real-time conversation, which is why GetHuman does not recommend this unless it's the only way.

Conclusion and closing notes

This is Canada Revenue's best phone number, the real-time current wait on hold and tools for skipping right through those phone lines to get right to a Canada Revenue agent. This phone number is Canada Revenue's best phone number because 29,532 customers like you used this contact information over the last 18 months and gave us feedback. Common problems addressed by the customer care unit that answers calls to 800-959-8281 include Account Access, Ask For Tax Help, Setup Payment Arrangement, Track a Refund, Request a Statement and other customer service issues. The Canada Revenue call center that you call into has employees from Canada and is open Mon-Fri: 9am-5pm ET according to customers. In total, Canada Revenue has 6 phone numbers. It's not always clear what is the best way to talk to Canada Revenue representatives, so we started compiling this information built from suggestions from the customer community. Please keep sharing your experiences so we can continue to improve this free resource.

GetHuman does not provide call center services or customer support operations for Canada Revenue. The two organizations are not related. GetHuman builds free tools and shares information to help customers of companies like Canada Revenue. For large companies that includes tools such as our GetHuman Phone, which allows you to call a company but skip the part where you wait on the line to get a live human rep. We continue to work on these tools to help customers like you (and ourselves!) navigate the messy phone menus, hold times, and confusion with customer service. As long as you keep sharing it with your friends and loved ones, we'll keep doing it.

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