Equitable Life | BIN required for Corp owned policies
Business Identification Number now required for Corporate owned policies
To be compliant with changes made by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) effective immediately Equitable Life will require the Business Identification Number for Corporate owned Life Insurance and Annuity policies. The following entities need to obtain business numbers:
- “sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, trust or other ownership type”(Canada Revenue Agency, The Business Number and Your Canada Revenue Agency Program Accounts, RC2(E) Rev.12, Page 6)
- “Organizations such as clubs and charities may also get a BN” (ibid, page 6).
A business that does not have an identification number must apply for one within 15 days of the date of request. After receiving the identification number the business has 15 days to provide it to Equitable Life.
Equitable Life’s applicable forms will be amended to reflect this requirement in the 4th quarter of 2013. In the interim we will be sending out requests for this number upon receipt of Corporate owned applications. This will not hold up the settlement of any application received.
What is the Business Number?
The Business Number is a number that is assigned to the company when they do any business with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), such as registering for the GST/HST or filing corporate income tax. This business number is a 15 character identifier of the business. It has two parts;
- the first part is a nine digit number that identifies the business (this is the number we are required to collect and needs to be recorded on the policy records for future tax reporting), and
- a 6 character portion composed of letters and numbers that identifies the particular tax account (we do not require this portion).
How does Corporation obtain a Business Number?
The CRA assigns business numbers the next business day following incorporation for all new Ontario Corporations. Once the business number has been assigned the Corporation should receive notice advising that the BN account has been created with CRA. Only a director of the Corporation named in the Articles may call the CRA to obtain the number and when he/she does they should have on hand:
1.) hard copy of the Articles of Incorporation;
2.) Social Insurance Number; and
3.) Telephone number.
The telephone number for CRA: 1-800-959-5525 (press asterisk to speak to an agent).