Print T2 Bar Codes

Printing of two dimensional bar codes is a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requirement. A two dimensional bar code (or a 2D bar code) is a unique group of parallel lines that stores information electronically.

It allows the CRA to process the corporate return more rapidly since a CRA agent extracts the information contained in the code with a bar code laser scanner instead of manually entering the data.

Several bar codes can print per page, on more than one page. The first page can contain a maximum of six bar codes whereas the next pages can contain up to eight. Furthermore, the bar codes will print from bottom to top and from right to left.

CRA rules for bar code use

The CRA has issued the following rules for the efficient use of bar codes:

• The return must be printed on white paper only.
• The business number of the corporation must be indicated.
• The taxation period must be included in the period covered by Corporate Taxprep.
• Punctuation marks, e.g. periods and commas, must not be included in an address line.
• If the return is to be modified after the bar code has been printed, the changes must be entered in Corporate Taxprep and the return, reprinted.