NETFILE Canada: how to file your tax return online

What NETFILE Canada is and who runs it

NETFILE Canada is the Canada Revenue Agency's electronic channel for individuals who prepare their own income tax and benefit return. You do not fill in a form on a CRA web page. Instead, you complete the return in tax software that the CRA has certified, and the software transmits the finished return over the internet.

The software companies are private businesses. The CRA certifies their products for NETFILE, but it states that these companies are not CRA representatives. This site is also independent: we explain how the service works and point to canada.ca for the official pages.

Tax professionals who file for paying clients use a separate channel. If you are comparing the two, see our page on the CRA EFILE service, which covers registration and the yearly renewal preparers go through.

Is NETFILE free?

Any cost comes from the software you pick, not from the NETFILE service. The CRA's list of certified products marks some as free for everyone, and notes that others may offer a free option only if you have a modest income, a simple tax situation or live in certain provinces or territories. Compare the conditions before you start.

Who can use CRA NETFILE this season?

Most residents with a straightforward return can use CRA NETFILE. You need a social insurance number that starts with a digit from 1 to 9, or a temporary tax number that starts with 01 or 03. A SIN starting with 0 works only if you are a newcomer to Canada. The return must be for a tax year the service currently accepts.

Some returns cannot go through NETFILE at all. The main exclusions are a return for a person who has died, a bankruptcy return, a year outside the accepted range, and a deemed resident. Narrower cases include foreign tax credits for more than 3 countries, more than 12 sets of financial statements, SR&ED expense claims and claims involving more than 22 children. Our NETFILE eligibility rules page lists every exclusion with what to do instead.

What you need before you file

Gathering everything first saves most of the trouble people run into on transmission day. The software checks your name, date of birth and SIN against CRA records, so small typing differences are a common reason a send fails.

• Your SIN (or temporary tax number), legal name and date of birth exactly as the CRA has them
• Your current mailing address, including postal code
• All slips for the year: T4, T4A, T5, T4E, T5007, T2202 and RRSP contribution receipts
• Receipts for credits and deductions you plan to claim, kept on file in case the CRA asks later
• Your NETFILE access code from your latest notice of assessment (optional)
• Your CRA account sign-in, if you want to use Auto-fill my return

The access code

The access code is an 8-character mix of letters and numbers printed on the right side of your most recent notice of assessment, and shown under Tax returns in My Account. Entering it is not mandatory. If you skip it, the CRA confirms your identity with other information instead. The NETFILE access code page shows where to look and what first-time filers do.

NETFILE login: do you need a CRA account?

There is no separate NETFILE login. The sign-in you create belongs to your tax software, not to the CRA. A CRA account is only needed if you want Auto-fill my return, which pulls most slips the CRA has on file into your software, or if you want to read your digital notice of assessment. From February 2027 there is also an optional extra step: you can sign in to your CRA account before you send a 2026 return so the CRA can verify who is filing.

How to file a NETFILE Canada tax return step by step

The process is the same whether you owe tax, expect a refund or have no income at all. Filing a return even with zero income is how the CRA assesses eligibility for benefits and credits.

1. Choose a certified product that covers your situation and the tax year you are filing.
2. Enter your personal details, then decide whether to use Auto-fill my return. If you do, the software asks you to sign in to your CRA account.
3. Enter every slip and any income without a slip, such as self-employment income on Form T2125.
4. Claim your deductions and credits, and enter your access code if you have one.
5. Review the return, fix anything the software flags, and send it.
6. Save or print the confirmation message. It includes a code proving the CRA received your return.
7. Watch for your notice of assessment. For online returns it usually arrives within 2 weeks.

Keep your receipts and slips for at least as long as the CRA can review the year. NETFILE does not ask you to upload paper, but the CRA may later ask you to send proof of a claim.

When NETFILE opens and closes

The service runs for most of the year and then shuts for several weeks each winter while the CRA loads the next year's rules. For 2026 it closed on February 1 and reopened on Monday, February 23 at 6:00 a.m. Eastern time. The current window ends on Friday, January 29, 2027.

The CRA has not yet announced when NETFILE opens for 2026 returns. The dates will appear on the CRA's NETFILE pages once they are set; in recent years the service has reopened in the last full week of February. We track the announcement on our NETFILE open date page, along with the April 30, 2027 filing deadline for most people and June 15, 2027 for the self-employed.

What is changing for NETFILE in late 2026 and 2027?

• Optional CRA account sign-in: before you send a 2026 return, you can choose to sign in to your CRA account, an extra identity check the CRA marks as new for February 2027. It is not mandatory; without it the CRA uses other information to confirm who you are.
• Opening date: not yet announced for 2026 returns. The current season closes Friday, January 29, 2027.
• Tax years: expected to move forward to 2019 to 2026 for original returns, but not confirmed.
• Deadline: 2026 returns are due April 30, 2027, or June 15, 2027 for the self-employed, with any balance still due April 30.

Our NETFILE open date page tracks the 2027 announcement, and the NETFILE access code page explains how the new sign-in step sits alongside the access code.

If NETFILE refuses or will not send your return

Two different things can go wrong. Sometimes the connection fails because the service is down for maintenance, the season has not opened, or your return type is not allowed. Our NETFILE not working page walks through those checks in order.

Other times the CRA receives the data and refuses it, usually because your name, date of birth or address does not match its records. A refused return has not been filed. The NETFILE rejected page explains the common reasons and how to correct and resend.

Fixing a return that was already accepted

Do not send a second original return to correct a mistake. Once you have your notice of assessment, change the return through ReFILE in your software, through Change my return in My Account, or on Form T1-ADJ. ReFILE currently covers tax years 2022 to 2025.