{"id":49411,"date":"2020-04-08T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/?p=49411"},"modified":"2025-04-15T12:40:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T16:40:01","slug":"business-numbers-learning-the-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics","title":{"rendered":"Business Numbers: Learning the Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"wp-block-cgb-block-hero-banner alignfull section\" style=\"background-color:#2b5bae;color:#ffffff\"><div class=\"container\"><div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-md-6 d-flex flex-column justify-content-center\"><h1 class=\"h-banner__title hero-header\">Business Numbers: Learning the Basics<\/h1><div class=\"h-banner__text hero-sub-text\"><p>As a small business, we understand that navigating all the ins and outs of registration requirements can be confusing. In this post, we will go over why you need a business number.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"col-md-6\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"h-banner__image\" src=\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/announcement-banner-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is a business number? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A business number identifies your business to federal, provincial and municipal governments<\/strong>. This number allows you to enroll in programs with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). In addition, each program will result in a different sub-account of the business number. These programs include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Payroll, <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>GST\/HST, <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Import\/export<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Corporate reporting. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So how do you tell the difference between this number and a business license number or provincial business identification number? You can easily identify <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/services\/tax\/businesses\/topics\/registering-your-business\/register.html\" target=\"_blank\">federal business numbers<\/a>&nbsp;as they start with a 1, 7 or an 8 and are nine digits long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, a federal business number is a requirement for creating a <a href=\"https:\/\/support.chitchats.com\/support\/solutions\/articles\/47000427216-how-can-i-set-up-a-chit-chats-returns-account-\">Chit Chats returns account<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What if I need to Import\/Export Goods?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The business number is the master number used for Canadian business activity. However, if your business imports commercial goods you must register for the CRA&#8217;s import\/export program. Registering creates a new sub-account identified by a number beginning with RM. Your business number for importing will include the sub-account number. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Business number: 888888888<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Importer sub-account number: RM0001<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Business number for importing:  888888888RM0001<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">How to register for a business number with the Government of Canada <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So how do you get a federal business number? It&#8217;s as simple as&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/services\/tax\/businesses\/topics\/registering-your-business\/bro-register.html\" target=\"_blank\">going online<\/a>&nbsp;or making a phone call to the CRA at 1-800-959-5525. Before you call, go through our checklist to make sure you have everything you need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Be ready to answer a few questions about your business<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have your SIN number and other identification ready<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On average it takes 5-10 minutes to complete the call. Find <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"live wait times on the CRA's website (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/corporate\/contact-information.html\" target=\"_blank\">live wait times on the CRA&#8217;s website<\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope this post answers all your questions about how to register and use business numbers. If you need more help, please&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/corporate\/contact-information\/telephone-numbers.html#bsnssslfmplyd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contact the CRA<\/a> and for more business resources check out our other <a href=\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/category\/chit-chats-blog\/shipping-tips-en\">business tips.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light gb-block-cta\" style=\"padding-top:2%;min-height:13em;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-100 has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#f2f4f6\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center mt-0 has-text-color\" style=\"color:#32373c;font-size:36px;line-height:1\">Start saving with Chit Chats today!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color\" style=\"color:#32373c;line-height:1\">No hidden monthly fees. Unbeatable prices. More than 20 million packages delivered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-font-size gb-block-button sign-up-btn\" style=\"font-size:20px;line-height:1.2\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/signup\" style=\"border-radius:5px;color:#ffffff;background-color:#db2b35;padding-top:10px;padding-right:1em;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:1em\">Sign up now!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is a business number? A business number identifies your business to federal, provincial and municipal governments. This number allows you to enroll in programs&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":48495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-hero.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4927],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chit-chats-blog","category-shipping-tips-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Business Numbers and the CRA: Learning the Basics | Chit Chats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do you need a CRA business number? Learn about business numbers and why they&#039;re important for your online business and handling returns.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Business Numbers and the CRA: Learning the Basics | Chit Chats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why do you need a CRA business number? Learn about business numbers and why they&#039;re important for your online business and handling returns.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Chit Chats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-08T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T16:40:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Juhee Cha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Juhee Cha\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Juhee Cha\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f95fcdf6afa500ad941d119ff8f1ae36\"},\"headline\":\"Business Numbers: Learning the Basics\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-08T12:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T16:40:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics\"},\"wordCount\":355,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Chit Chats Blog\",\"Shipping &amp; Ecommerce Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics\",\"name\":\"Business Numbers and the CRA: Learning the Basics | Chit Chats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-08T12:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T16:40:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f95fcdf6afa500ad941d119ff8f1ae36\"},\"description\":\"Why do you need a CRA business number? Learn about business numbers and why they're important for your online business and handling returns.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Business Numbers: Learning the Basics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Chit Chats\",\"description\":\"Canada&#039;s Low-cost Carrier\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f95fcdf6afa500ad941d119ff8f1ae36\",\"name\":\"Juhee Cha\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c764f12339b03d87eee84736fb1ce10b15c7f93ee5cc4001d27c44c95ee37856?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c764f12339b03d87eee84736fb1ce10b15c7f93ee5cc4001d27c44c95ee37856?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Juhee Cha\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/author\/jcha\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Business Numbers and the CRA: Learning the Basics | Chit Chats","description":"Why do you need a CRA business number? Learn about business numbers and why they're important for your online business and handling returns.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Business Numbers and the CRA: Learning the Basics | Chit Chats","og_description":"Why do you need a CRA business number? Learn about business numbers and why they're important for your online business and handling returns.","og_url":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics","og_site_name":"Chit Chats","article_published_time":"2020-04-08T12:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-15T16:40:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Juhee Cha","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Juhee Cha","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics"},"author":{"name":"Juhee Cha","@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f95fcdf6afa500ad941d119ff8f1ae36"},"headline":"Business Numbers: Learning the Basics","datePublished":"2020-04-08T12:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-15T16:40:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics"},"wordCount":355,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg","articleSection":["Chit Chats Blog","Shipping &amp; Ecommerce Tips"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics","url":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics","name":"Business Numbers and the CRA: Learning the Basics | Chit Chats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-08T12:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-15T16:40:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f95fcdf6afa500ad941d119ff8f1ae36"},"description":"Why do you need a CRA business number? Learn about business numbers and why they're important for your online business and handling returns.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/business-numbers-learning-the-basics#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Business Numbers: Learning the Basics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/","name":"Chit Chats","description":"Canada&#039;s Low-cost Carrier","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f95fcdf6afa500ad941d119ff8f1ae36","name":"Juhee Cha","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c764f12339b03d87eee84736fb1ce10b15c7f93ee5cc4001d27c44c95ee37856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c764f12339b03d87eee84736fb1ce10b15c7f93ee5cc4001d27c44c95ee37856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Juhee Cha"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/chitchats.com"],"url":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/author\/jcha"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/announcement-banner-1.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Juhee Cha","author_link":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/author\/jcha"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49411"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67112,"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49411\/revisions\/67112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chitchats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}