Does an Estate Need a Business Number or GST/HST Account in Ontario?

Most estates are administered without ever needing to register anything with the CRA beyond filing the deceased's final return and, if applicable, a T3 trust return. But when the deceased owned a rental property, ran an unincorporated business, or held shares in a corporation, an executor can find themselves asking whether the estate itself needs a business number or a GST/HST account of its own.

The answer depends on what the estate actually continues to do, not just what the deceased did before death.

Why This Question Comes Up

An estate is a separate taxpayer from the deceased. If the estate continues operating something the deceased ran — a rental property generating enough income to require GST/HST registration, a small unincorporated business, or a going concern with employees — the estate can end up needing its own CRA registrations, distinct from anything the deceased already had in place. The deceased's own business number generally doesn't automatically carry over to the estate for ongoing operations.

What a Business Number Actually Is

A Business Number (BN) is the CRA's core identifier for a business or organization, with specific program accounts attached to it as needed — commonly a GST/HST account, a payroll deductions account, and a corporate income tax account, each identified by its own program suffix. An estate that needs any one of these programs generally needs a business number as the umbrella identifier those accounts sit under.

When the Estate Needs Its Own GST/HST Account

If the estate continues to make taxable supplies — for example, continuing to rent out commercial property, or continuing an unincorporated business the deceased ran — it may need to register for GST/HST once its revenue from those supplies crosses the threshold CRA sets for mandatory registration. That threshold is indexed and worth confirming directly with CRA or an accountant rather than relying on a remembered figure, since getting it wrong in either direction, registering unnecessarily or failing to register when required, creates its own problems.

Residential rental income is generally treated differently than commercial rental or business income for GST/HST purposes, so the type of property matters as much as the amount of income.

When the Estate Needs a Payroll Account

If the estate continues to employ people directly — for example, keeping on staff to run a business or property the estate now owns — it generally needs its own payroll deductions account to withhold and remit income tax, CPP, and EI from those employees' pay, separate from any payroll account the deceased or their business used previously.

Corporate Income Tax: A Different Situation

If the deceased owned shares in a corporation, the corporation itself already has, or needs, its own business number and tax accounts — that doesn't change because a shareholder died. The estate, as the new owner of the shares, doesn't need to register the corporation again; it simply steps into the deceased's position as shareholder. Where this gets more complicated is if the estate itself is directly operating an unincorporated business, such as a sole proprietorship the deceased ran personally rather than through a corporation — in that scenario, the estate may need to register in its own name to continue operating it.

Practical Steps for an Executor

1. Identify whether the deceased operated anything — a rental property, an unincorporated business, employees — that is continuing to generate income or activity after death.
2. Determine whether that activity is continuing under the estate's ownership, being wound down, or being sold or transferred promptly.
3. If it's continuing, ask the estate's accountant whether GST/HST registration, a payroll account, or both are required given the estate's specific facts.
4. Keep the estate's own CRA registrations and filings separate from the deceased's pre-death registrations — they are legally different taxpayers, even though they relate to the same underlying activity.
5. Wind down any registrations the estate no longer needs once the relevant assets are sold or distributed.

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