Certificate of Residency Sample: CRA and ATO Letters

A certificate of residency is a letter from your own tax authority (the CRA in Canada, the ATO in Australia) confirming you were a tax resident there for a given period. Foreign payers use it to apply a tax treaty’s lower withholding rate. Below you’ll find sample request wording for both agencies, a free DOCX kit, and the step-by-step process for each.

The founder mistake is asking for the wrong document. A US client that withholds 30% because your paperwork is missing wants a W-8BEN-E, not a certificate (IRS). The certificate is mostly for clients and tax offices in other treaty countries.

Download the kit

• Download the certificate of residency request kit (DOCX): a CRA request letter for an individual, a CRA request letter for a corporation, an ATO cover note with a field-by-field checklist for the NAT 75442 form, and a one-page “COR or W-8BEN-E?” chart. Every field is in [BRACKETS].

Requirements checked on 4 Nov 2026 against the CRA, ATO and IRS pages listed under Sources. General information, not tax advice. Confirm with a CPA (US), a CPA or tax lawyer (Canada) or a registered tax agent (Australia) for your situation.

What a certificate of residency is, and who asks for one

The CRA describes it plainly: a certificate “confirms that a taxpayer is resident of Canada for income tax purposes,” and you may need one if you’re receiving income from a foreign country “and want foreign taxes deducted at source to be reduced, eliminated or refunded.” The foreign tax administration, the payer, or both may ask for it (CRA).

The ATO’s version shows that, for a specific period, you were an Australian resident for tax purposes, not a temporary resident, and liable to Australian tax on your worldwide income (ATO).

Both agencies offer two formats:

Sources: CRA; ATO NAT 75442 page. Checked 4 Nov 2026.

Ask the foreign payer which format it wants before you request anything. The CRA warns that “not all foreign governments will accept a standard certificate of residency issued by the CRA.”

How to get a certificate of residency in Canada (CRA), step by step

There’s no CRA form for this. You send a request with the right details.

1. File your returns. The CRA’s first note: make sure your returns “have been filed and are up to date.” For an individual that’s the T1; for a corporation, the T2.
2. Confirm the format and the treaty. Standard letter, or the foreign authority’s own form? Which treaty, and which article (royalties, interest, business profits)?
3. Put these details in the request:
   • Individual: full name, address, SIN, the foreign country or treaty (with specific provisions where applicable), and the tax year(s).
   • Corporation: name (plus proof of any recent name change), mailing address, business number, the foreign country or treaty (with specific articles where applicable), and the tax year(s).
4. Send it one of four ways:
   • Online: Submit documents in your CRA account through My Account, My Business Account or Represent a client. Pick the topic “Contact Centre Correspondence” or “Contact Centre and International Correspondence”.
   • Mail: Contact Center Correspondence Program, Sudbury Tax Centre, PO Box 20000 Station A, Sudbury ON P3A 5C1.
   • Fax: 418-562-3368 or 1-833-697-2401.
   • Phone (standard letter only): 1-800-959-8281 for individuals and trusts, 1-800-959-5525 for corporations.
5. Mail it if the foreign country wants its original form back. The CRA says to send foreign forms by mail only in that case.
6. Get it notarized separately if you need to. The CRA “cannot authenticate documents or provide apostille certifications.” That goes through a Canadian notary and Global Affairs Canada.

Timing: a request for a future year shouldn’t go in before October 15 of the current year, and the CRA only processes it “on or after the beginning of the tax year” it covers. The CRA page gives no processing time, so allow plenty of lead time.

All details from the CRA certificate of residency page (updated 2026-09-17, checked 4 Nov 2026).

Sample wording: CRA letter for a corporation

Re: Request for a certificate of residency, [CORPORATION LEGAL NAME], BN [123456789 RC0001]

[CORPORATION LEGAL NAME] requests a certificate of residency confirming that it was a resident of Canada for income tax purposes for the taxation year ending [DATE], for use in [COUNTRY] under the [Canada–COUNTRY] income tax convention[, Article XX]. Mailing address: [ADDRESS]. The corporation’s T2 returns for this year have been filed. [Please certify the enclosed official [COUNTRY] form; the section for certification by the foreign tax administration has been left blank.] Please send [1] copy to the mailing address above.

[NAME], [Director / Authorized officer]

For an individual, swap in your full name, address and SIN. Both versions are in the kit.

How to get a certificate of residency in Australia (ATO), step by step

The ATO’s current pages use a form, not a free-form letter.

1. Check eligibility. For the whole period you must have been an Australian resident for tax purposes, with returns lodged and self-assessed as resident. Individuals must also not have been a temporary resident (NAT 75441 page).
2. Download the right form. Companies use NAT 75442 (page); individuals use NAT 75441. You need one form per entity.
3. Fill it in. Companies need the primary contact, a custodian or an authorised contact to complete it. The name, address and TFN or ABN must match ATO records exactly.
4. Pick the period carefully. The ATO can certify past financial or calendar years, the current calendar or financial year, 12 months from the issue date, or a custom period ending no more than 12 months after issue. You can ask for next calendar year from 1 November.
5. Lodge it. Use Online services for business (Secure mail, Communication tab; Topic “Income tax”, Subject “Certificate of residency”), Online services for agents (Practice mail), or post it to AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, PO BOX 3544, ALBURY NSW 2640. An individual with no ABN or WPN has to post it.
6. Wait. The ATO says it aims “to complete requests within 50 days,” with high-volume periods taking longer.

A trading name only appears on the certificate if it’s registered with ASIC. A dual resident has to settle the treaty residence question with the ATO first (ATO).

NAT 75442 at a glance (Pty Ltd)

Source: NAT 75442 form (version NAT 75442-11.2025), checked 4 Nov 2026. The kit has a tick-box version plus a cover note to paste into Secure mail.

Certificate of residency vs W-8BEN-E: which one does the payer want?

This is the question competitors skip. For a Canadian or Australian startup selling to US customers, the answer is usually W-8BEN-E.

• A US payer documents you with a W-8. The IRS says foreign entities use Form W-8BEN-E to document their status. You give it “to the person who is requesting it,” not to the IRS, and you give it before payment. Without it, the payer “may have to withhold at the 30% rate” (IRS W-8BEN-E instructions). Individuals use Form W-8BEN (IRS).
• Treaty claims go on the W-8. Lines 14a and 14b of the W-8BEN-E certify your treaty country, that you derive the income, and that you meet the treaty’s limitation on benefits (LOB) article. A US payer may rely on that form to cut withholding (Treas. Reg. 1.1441-6(b)(1)).
• The exception where a COR counts in the US. For payments made outside the US on an offshore obligation, involving actively traded stocks and debt, mutual fund dividends, certain unit trusts and securities loans, the payer can rely on a certificate of residence instead of a W-8. The certificate must have been issued within the last three years, and an entity must add LOB and “derives the income” statements (1.1441-6(c)). That’s investment-account territory, not SaaS invoices.

The LLC row matters for anyone reading our US LLC for Canadians guide. The CRA says it “does not issue certificates of residency to fiscally transparent entities.”

Worked example: one Australian startup, two documents

Kestrel Labs Pty Ltd, a Sydney company, licenses its API to a US company for USD 20,000 in royalties, and to a client in another treaty country.

• US royalty. The US licensee asks for a W-8BEN-E. If Kestrel sends nothing, the licensee may withhold 30%: USD 20,000 × 0.30 = USD 6,000 held back. Kestrel fills in the W-8BEN-E with Australia on line 14a and the LOB box on line 14b, and the licensee applies the treaty rate. No certificate is needed. (Treaty rates by income type are in our W-8BEN vs W-8BEN-E guide.)
• Other-country client. That client’s tax office wants proof of Australian residency for calendar 2027 by 31 January 2027. Kestrel can lodge NAT 75442 from 1 November 2026. Counting back the ATO’s 50-day target from 31 January gives 12 December 2026 (19 days left in December plus 31 in January = 50). Lodge in early November and you have a buffer.
• Validity. A W-8BEN-E signed on 4 Nov 2026 generally stays valid through 31 Dec 2029, the end of the third calendar year after signing, unless something on it changes (IRS). The ATO certificate covers only the period printed on it.

The figures are illustrative. The 30% default, the 50-day target and the validity rule come from the sources cited.

For an Australian company with a US parent after a flip, residency can get harder to show. Read Delaware flip for Australian startups before you assume the Pty Ltd qualifies.

Who should request one, and who shouldn’t

Common mistakes

• Requesting before the returns are in. Both agencies check returns first, and the ATO won’t issue a certificate if you haven’t self-assessed as a resident.
• Wrong name or address. The ATO wants these to match its records. The CRA asks for proof of any recent name change.
• Bundling many entities into one request. The CRA asks for separate requests by account type, each showing the tax year and country.
• Expecting the CRA to apostille it. It can’t. Use a notary and Global Affairs Canada.
• Sending a COR to a US client. They’ll still ask for the W-8, so send that from the start.

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