How to Fill Out and Submit Form AUT-01: Authorize a CRA Representative

To fill out Form AUT-01 and authorize a representative with the Canada Revenue Agency, enter your identifying information in Part 1, your representative’s RepID, GroupID, or Business Number in Part 2, choose Level 1 or Level 2 access and the tax years covered in Part 3, sign and date the form, and mail it to the CRA tax centre printed on the form within six months of signing.¹ Processing takes about four weeks.²

What This Form Actually Grants

AUT-01 gives your representative offline access only. They can phone the CRA, write letters, send faxes, or attend in person on your behalf, but they cannot sign into your online CRA account with this form.¹ You pick one of two access levels on the form:

Level 1 is view-only. The representative can see your tax returns, notices of assessment, and carryover amounts, but cannot request changes.
Level 2 adds the ability to request certain changes, such as amending a return, filing a formal dispute, requesting relief from penalties and interest, or moving payments between accounts.

Some things stay off-limits even at Level 2. A representative cannot change your personal information, update your direct deposit details, or access your Disability Tax Credit certificate.³ The CRA no longer accepts direct deposit changes by phone from anyone.⁴

The form works for personal, business, non-resident, trust, and registered plan administrator accounts. Business and registered plan accounts also have a Level 3, which lets the representative delegate authority to additional representatives.⁵

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Missing or mismatched information is the most common reason the CRA sends a form back. Get everything lined up first.

From your side, you need your full legal name exactly as it appears on your CRA records, your nine-digit Social Insurance Number, and your current residential address and phone number. The CRA may call to verify identity if something on the form looks inconsistent.

From your representative, you need at least one of these identifiers:

A RepID, which is a unique identifier issued when they register with the CRA’s Represent a Client service.⁶
A GroupID, if you are authorizing a firm or group rather than a specific individual.
A 15-digit Business Number registered with Represent a Client, if the representative is acting through their business.⁷

If your representative does not yet have a RepID, they can get one by signing into their CRA account, selecting “Add account,” then “Representative account,” and following the prompts to register with Represent a Client.⁶

Filling Out the Form Part by Part

Download the fillable PDF from canada.ca. Search “AUT-01” or go to the CRA forms page.⁸ The fillable version needs Adobe Acrobat Reader 10 or later. A print version is available if you would rather complete it by hand.

Part 1: Your Information

Enter your name, SIN, address, and phone number. Match your CRA records exactly. If the name attached to your SIN in the CRA system does not match what you write here, the form will be rejected.

Part 2: Your Representative

Enter your representative’s RepID, GroupID, or Business Number. This is what links the authorization to their profile so CRA agents can verify them when they call or write.

Part 3: Access Level and Scope

Choose Level 1 or Level 2 and list the tax years the authorization covers. Indicate the account type: personal, business, non-resident, trust, or registered plan. For a business account, add the relevant program identifiers (for example, RT for GST/HST, RP for payroll, RR for a registered charity), and specify whether you are granting access to one account, several selected accounts, or every account tied to your Business Number.

Sign and Date

Sign and date the form. One form covers one representative only. If you want to authorize two people, fill out and sign a separate AUT-01 for each.¹

Where to Send It

Mail the signed form to the CRA tax centre printed on the last page of the form itself. Which centre applies depends on your province of residence and the account type, so check the form rather than guessing. The CRA must receive it within six months of the date you signed, or it expires and you will have to start over.¹

Non-resident tax accounts have a fax option. You can send the form to the Sudbury Tax Centre at 1-705-671-4559, or mail it to:

Sudbury Tax Centre
Post Office Box 20000, Station A
Sudbury ON P3A 5C1

For personal, business, trust, and registered plan accounts, the CRA’s instructions say to mail the form rather than fax it.¹

How Long Processing Takes

The CRA processes paper authorization requests in about four weeks.² Expect longer during tax season, roughly February through April, when mail volumes climb. Your representative cannot act on your behalf until the authorization appears in the CRA system.

To check the status, call the individual tax inquiries line at 1-800-959-8281. If the CRA rejects the form because information is missing or inconsistent, they will notify you by mail, which pushes everything back further. Getting it right the first time is worth the extra few minutes of care.

A Faster Option If You Do Not Need Offline-Only Access

If the four-week wait is a problem, the CRA offers online authorization through the Represent a Client portal. Your representative submits the request electronically, and you confirm it in your own CRA My Account.¹ Online authorization also opens up CRA digital tools, not just phone and mail.

Both of you need CRA online accounts for that route, and the representative needs a RepID. AUT-01 is the right choice when either of you cannot register online, or when you specifically want your representative limited to offline channels. The CRA itself calls the paper form the slowest way to authorize a representative.¹

Cancelling or Changing the Authorization Later

To revoke access, you have to submit a different form: AUT-01X, Cancel Authorization for a Representative.⁹ You cannot cancel by filing a new AUT-01 or by writing a general letter. Download AUT-01X, fill it in, and mail it to the same tax centre that processed the original authorization, again within six months of signing.¹⁰

A few points that trip people up:

Authorizations do not expire on their own unless you set an expiry date. Without one, the access continues indefinitely.⁹
Authorizing a new representative does not cancel the old one. If you switch accountants, both will have access until you file AUT-01X for the previous one.
To change the access level for the same representative, submit a new AUT-01 with the updated level. It replaces the old one for that representative.

If a representative retires, changes firms, or you no longer need their help, send in the cancellation promptly. A stale authorization left in place means someone you may have lost contact with can still phone the CRA and pull up your account.

1
Canada Revenue Agency. Authorize a Representative – How to Give Authorization
2
Canada Revenue Agency. Check CRA Processing Times
3
Canada Revenue Agency. About Represent a Client – Services for Representatives of Individuals
4
Canada Revenue Agency. Direct Deposit for Individuals – Payments the CRA Sends You
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Canada Revenue Agency. Authorize a Representative – Level of Access You Can Give
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Canada Revenue Agency. About Represent a Client – CRA Account Help
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Canada Revenue Agency. Representatives – Request Authorization – CRA Account Help
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Canada Revenue Agency. AUT-01 Authorize a Representative for Offline Access
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Canada Revenue Agency. Cancel Authorization for a Representative
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Canada Revenue Agency. AUT-01X Cancel Authorization for a Representative