How to Fill Out and Submit Form RC1: Business Number Registration

To fill out Form RC1, complete Part A to identify your business, then complete only the additional parts that match the CRA program accounts you actually need: Part B for GST/HST, Part C for payroll, Part D for import-export, and Part E for corporation income tax. Mail or fax the finished form to the Sudbury Tax Centre. The paper RC1 is the right route when Business Registration Online cannot handle your situation — for example, a Canadian business owned entirely by non-residents, a business owned by another business, a reactivation of a closed account, or a postal code the online system rejects.¹ Since the CRA stopped taking registrations by phone on November 3, 2025, paper is the fallback whenever BRO won’t work.²

Download the current version of the form from canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/rc1.html.³

Before You Start

Have the following ready so you can complete the form in one sitting:

Your Social Insurance Number, and the SIN of any co-owner. The SIN is mandatory for sole proprietors registering for GST/HST.
Your business’s legal name (as shown on incorporation or registration documents) and any operating or trade name.
Physical business address, mailing address, and the address where you keep your records if it differs.
A description of your major activity — the form asks for at least a noun, a verb, and an adjective — plus your top products or services and the share of revenue each represents.
Your fiscal year-end and expected revenue figures.
If incorporated: your certificate of incorporation or amalgamation.⁴

Part A: Identify Your Business

Every applicant completes Part A. Start by choosing your ownership type (individual, partnership, corporation, trust, or other) and your operation type (sole proprietor, association, religious body, financial institution, and so on).

The owners section asks each owner for their SIN, name, telephone numbers, and occupation. Enter the business’s legal name exactly as it appears on the registration or incorporation paperwork, then list any operating or trade name separately. Provide the physical location of the business, the mailing address if different, and the records address if that is different again.

Section A4 is the activity description. The CRA uses this to assign your industry classification, so be specific: what you do, how you do it, and what makes the activity distinct. List up to three main products or services and estimate the percentage of revenue each contributes.

A5: GST/HST Screening Questions

Before the program-account parts, A5 asks whether you provide property or services in Canada, whether your annual revenue exceeds $30,000 (or $50,000 for a public service body), whether you operate a taxi or limousine service, whether you earn commercial rental income, and whether you are a non-resident. Your answers here determine whether you need Part B.

Part B: GST/HST Account

Registration for GST/HST is required once your business is no longer a small supplier. Under section 148 of the Excise Tax Act, you remain a small supplier as long as your total taxable supplies (including those of any associated entities) stay at or below $30,000 across four consecutive calendar quarters.⁵ Cross that threshold in a single quarter and you must register immediately and start charging tax on the supply that pushed you over. Cross it over four quarters combined and you must register by the end of the month following that quarter.⁶

Part B asks for your revenue from taxable supplies in Canada, your worldwide taxable supplies, your GST/HST fiscal year-end, and the effective date of registration. It also asks you to select a reporting period. The CRA assigns reporting periods based on annual taxable supplies:

Annual: $1,500,000 or less
Quarterly: more than $1,500,000 up to $6,000,000
Monthly: more than $6,000,000

Charities are assigned annual filing regardless of revenue.⁷

Voluntary Registration

You can register for GST/HST voluntarily even while you are still under $30,000. The benefit is that you can claim input tax credits to recover the GST/HST you pay on business expenses like equipment, supplies, and rent.⁸ The cost is that you must start charging tax and filing returns on schedule. To qualify, you need to be engaged in a commercial activity in Canada or show clear intent to start one, with evidence like proposed contracts, proof of a place of business, partnership agreements, or documentation of capital raising or equipment purchases.⁹ The effective date is usually the date you request registration, though it can be backdated up to 30 days.

Part C: Payroll Account

Complete Part C once you hire employees and begin paying salaries, wages, bonuses, or vacation pay, or when you provide taxable benefits such as a company car.¹⁰ The section asks for the types of payments you will make, your payroll frequency, the maximum number of employees you expect over the next 12 months, total expected salaries, and the date of your first payment. It also asks whether you operate year-round or seasonally, and whether the business is a subsidiary of a foreign corporation or a franchisee.

Part D: Import-Export Account

If your business imports or exports goods, the RC1 gets you the nine-digit Business Number you need before the Canada Border Services Agency can set up your RM program account. Register the RM account separately through the CBSA. When you fill out this section, list every name your business might use on customs release forms and invoices, because mismatches between those documents and CBSA records can hold goods at the border.¹¹

Part E: Corporation Income Tax

If your business is incorporated, you have two options and only need one: attach a copy of your certificate of incorporation or amalgamation, or complete the corporation income tax section of the form. Tick the box that matches what you’re providing.⁴ If you don’t have your incorporation certificate handy, filling out this part serves the same identification purpose.

Where to Send the Form

Mail the completed RC1 to the tax centre closest to where you conduct business. For most applicants that is the Sudbury Tax Centre:

Sudbury Tax Centre
Post Office Box 20000, Station A
Sudbury ON P3A 5C1¹²

You can also fax the form to 705-671-3994 or toll-free to 1-855-276-1529.¹² Fax is faster than mail because it skips postal transit. Non-resident applicants submit to the designated Non-Resident Tax Centre, which also operates out of the Sudbury address; the specific centre depends on where your business is located outside Canada.³

What Happens Next

Once the CRA processes your application, you receive a nine-digit Business Number and separate program account identifiers for each account you opened, using two-letter codes: RT for GST/HST, RP for payroll, RM for import-export, and RC for corporation income tax.¹³ The CRA does not publish a fixed turnaround for paper or fax registrations, and processing time varies with volume.

Penalties If You Don’t Register on Time

Failing to register when required, or failing to comply with any obligation under the Income Tax Act where no other specific penalty applies, carries a penalty equal to the greater of $100 or $25 for each day the failure continues, up to a maximum of 100 days ($2,600 at the cap).¹⁴ Providing false or misleading information on the form carries a separate penalty: the greater of $100 or 50% of any understated tax or overstated credits linked to the false statement. The CRA offers penalty relief if you come forward voluntarily before the agency contacts you, and you can request a waiver of penalties and interest for circumstances beyond your control, provided you make the request within 10 years.¹⁵

1
Canada.ca. Register as a Resident with a Canadian Business
2
Canada.ca. Business Registration with the CRA
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Canada.ca. RC1 Request for a Business Number and Certain Program Accounts
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Canada Revenue Agency. Request for a Business Number and Certain Program Accounts
5
Department of Justice Canada. Excise Tax Act RSC 1985 c E-15 – Section 148
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Canada.ca. When to Register for and Start Charging the GST/HST
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Canada.ca. Make Changes to Your GST/HST Account
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Canada.ca. Register for a GST/HST Account
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Canada.ca. Voluntary Registration
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Canada.ca. Employers’ Guide – Payroll Deductions and Remittances
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Canada.ca. Getting or Making Changes to a Nine-Digit Business Number for Import-Export
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Canada.ca. Find a CRA Address
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Canada.ca. Program Accounts You May Need
14
Government of Canada. Income Tax Act RSC 1985 c 1 (5th Supp) – Section 162
15
Canada Revenue Agency. False Reporting or Repeated Failure to Report Income