CRA payment arrangements: setting up a plan to pay tax over time

Who can set up CRA payment arrangements?

CRA payment arrangements are open to anyone who owes the CRA and cannot pay in full right away. What changes is the channel. Since October 22, 2025, individuals with $1,000 or more of personal income tax or COVID-19 benefit debt can use the Manage balance service in My Account without speaking to a collections officer.

Through My Account the CRA lists these personal debts as eligible for an online arrangement: income tax, and repayments of benefits and credits such as COVID-19 benefits, the GST/HST credit, the Canada Dental Benefit and the Canada Carbon Rebate, plus TFSA amounts and Underused Housing Tax. Debts the online service does not offer are arranged by phone through the CRA's debt contact page.

The CRA's June 2026 tax tip reported that, by May 15, 2026, Manage balance had been presented to 5.95 million taxpayers and $1.1 billion had been attributed to the service.

Setting up a CRA payment plan online in My Account

Before proposing anything, work out a monthly figure you can keep up for the whole plan. A plan you break costs more than a slower plan you keep.

1. Sign in to My Account and open the Manage balance service.
2. Check the total owing and which tax years it comes from. If a year looks wrong, sort that out first through a change request or an objection.
3. Choose to schedule a series of payments. The CRA sets these up as pre-authorized debits from your bank account.
4. Pick amounts and dates that match your pay cycle. The first debit must be scheduled at least 5 business days ahead.
5. Review and confirm, then save the confirmation. If the options do not fit, use the same service to contact a collections officer or request a callback.

Changing or skipping a scheduled payment

Your pre-authorized debit agreement starts when the first scheduled payment is withdrawn. To change, skip or cancel a debit, make the change at least 5 business days before its payment date. With electronic mail turned on, you can view the CRA's confirmation letter the next business day; otherwise it arrives by mail in 7 to 10 business days. The CRA may cancel the agreement if your bank dishonours a payment.

Setting up a CRA payment plan by phone

For personal income tax debt only, the CRA's automated TeleArrangement line, 1-866-256-1147, sets up an arrangement Monday to Friday from 7 am to 10 pm Eastern time. Have your social insurance number, full name and date of birth, address and a notice of assessment or other tax document at hand, or be signed in to My Account. The CRA says you need to make a first payment toward the debt to start the arrangement. For other debts, call the number on your notice.

When the CRA asks for financial details

For larger debts or longer plans, the CRA may want proof of your ability to pay. Its collections policy says you may need to give supporting documents for your income, expenses, assets and liabilities, and that it expects you to have tried reasonable options such as borrowing or rearranging your finances first.

CRA payment arrangement interest

An arrangement holds off collection action as long as you keep to it; it does not stop interest. The CRA keeps charging interest at the prescribed rate, compounded daily, on unpaid tax and penalties until the balance reaches zero. That rate is 7% for October 1 to December 31, 2026 and is reset each quarter.

Payment arrangement calculator: a worked example

The table models a $4,800 debt repaid at $800 a month, with interest at a steady 7% compounded daily over months of about 30.4 days. The editorial team calculated it; your actual figures depend on exact dates and future quarterly rates.

Total interest comes to about $101. Stretching the same debt to $400 a month takes 13 payments and about $192 of interest, nearly twice as much. If hardship caused the debt, you can separately ask the CRA to cancel interest with an RC4288 taxpayer relief request; interest you pay can be refunded if relief is granted.

What happens if you miss a payment

The CRA's terms are simple: make each payment on the agreed date, file all future returns on time and keep up with new obligations. If a debit bounces or a return goes unfiled, the arrangement can be cancelled and the CRA may start collection action. The CRA may also review an arrangement from time to time, and if you pay less than agreed without first changing the arrangement, it may take legal action to collect.

Collection tools set out in the CRA's policy include a requirement to pay, which takes money from wages, other income or bank accounts, and in serious cases seizing and selling assets. Some legal actions normally cannot start until 90 days after the notice of assessment or reassessment. If you know a payment will fail, use Manage balance to contact the CRA before the date rather than after.

Refunds and benefits during an arrangement

An active plan does not protect refunds or benefit payments. The CRA can apply income tax refunds, Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB) payments, the quarterly credit that replaced the GST/HST credit in July 2026, and other federal benefit payments to your debt, a process it calls set-off. Budget for that: if you rely on a spring refund, it may go straight to the balance, and the next CGEB payment, due January 5, 2027, can be kept the same way. Each set-off also restarts the CRA's 10-year limitation period for collecting personal tax debt, as does writing to the CRA to propose a payment arrangement.

The upside is that each set-off shortens the plan and cuts the interest. The updated total appears in My Account after each set-off, and your notice of assessment for the next year shows whether a refund was due before any set-off. For how the original balance was calculated, see CRA balance owing, and for the full post-filing picture the after you file guide.