Table of contents

• Purpose
• Approach
• Agency Business Resumption Principles
• Resumption by phases

Purpose

Agency employees across the country and in every function have been working during the last three months to support critical services, including the new emergency measure programs. This includes contributions from employees taking on new roles answering calls and reviewing claims for these measures.

The Agency’s National Business Resumption Plan (NBRP) has been created to guide Branch and Regional business resumption plans. The Plan will provide information to employees regarding the staging of the resumption of program and corporate activities and operations that did not resume during the Agency’s critical services phase from March 16 to June 26.

Collaboration at the national and regional level is paramount for success for the gradual resumption of Agency activities. It will ensure that the Agency can systematically resume services in a thoughtful and phased approach that takes into consideration both the health and safety of our employees and the needs of Canadian taxpayers to receive the world class services that the Agency has always provided.

The NBRP schedule reflects one part of the Agency planning for the resumption of program delivery. The Agency is also looking at many other aspects of the COVID-19 situation in the short, medium and long-term, including how best to support employees and managers now and into the future.

Approach

The following principles have been applied to our resumption planning process. While many activities have resumed already, others will be phased in as we await the end of filing and payment extensions provided to the public to better help them manage their financial affairs.

During the resumption phases, the Agency will monitor client service pressures as well as emerging compliance risks to confirm or adjust national start dates for the remaining activities. Once these decisions have been made nationally, regional and local offices will implement them as fully as possible, respecting local conditions.

Agency Business Resumption Principles

Health and Safety

Employee and client health and safety is the Agency’s primary concern. It is expected that unless required for specific business reasons, employees will work remotely for the foreseeable future. Agency buildings will continue to be kept safe as some employees will still be required to work from an Agency building for business reasons. Similarly, any visits to client locations or any other in-person interaction will need to follow specific protocols, which are still in development.

Fair Treatment of Clients

Resuming our business must reflect our core values and beliefs as an organization. The CRA Vision of being “trusted, fair, and helpful by putting people first” is at the core of our approach to resumption, especially with so many citizens and businesses still facing the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Taxpayers have varying capacity to deal with CRA compliance actions, particularly those who may not be able to completely comply with their tax obligations due to circumstances beyond their control.

Service as a priority

The Agency must ensure service pressures are addressed as much as possible before broad-scale compliance and collections work begins for more clients, many of whom will continue to face challenges in complying. This will set the stage for better detection of true compliance risks.

Communication and Transparency

Clear and frequent communications on all resumption decisions will be essential, leveraging national, regional and local communication and related messages to employees and external stakeholders.

Resumption by phases

The Agency’s staff will continue to focus on the new emergency measures, both payments and compliance, ensuring payments are issued appropriately. As it continues this activity, other tax activities not yet activated at full strength will be resumed in a phased manner over the next six to nine months.

An Agency readiness assessment or “gate” process will be followed over the summer to confirm, and adjust if necessary, the schedule for resumption of the remaining activities. The plan reflects a preliminary sequence for planning purposes. The specific activities and expected timing are outlined below and will be reviewed continuously throughout the period to adjust to changing economic and public health circumstances across the country.

Business Resumption of Services to Canadians and to the Government of Canada by Functional Branch

The NBR builds on the list of services activated under the Business Continuity Plan (BCP), and adds the following lists of Branch activities that are to resume during the summer (July – August). Those activities that are scheduled to resume after August are still being assessed to confirm the optimum time for resumption during the next period of business resumption.

Appeals Branch

• All remaining functions in the Objections Program, the Taxpayer Relief Program and CPP/EI Appeals to the Minister and to the Courts

Assessment, Benefit, and Service Branch (ABSB)

Resumption of all remaining functions based on ability and capacity to support normal and COVID-19 priorities simultaneously, with the exception of the following:

The following activities will be undertaken following the Agency’s readiness assessment:

Anticipated start date: To be determined

• Discounter audit activities
• T183, Information Return for Electronic Filing of an Individual's Income Tax and Benefit Return monitoring activities
• Certain validation activities that continue to fall under the responsibility of ABSB

Audit, Evaluation and Risk Branch (AERB)

• Certain reporting for Internal Audit and Evaluation activities involving some branches, as per OPIs’ availability

Collections and Verification Branch (CVB)

• The Debt Management Call Centres (DMCC) will be reactivated to address incoming calls from taxpayers. Payment arrangement parameters have been expanded to give debtors longer time and more flexibility to resolve their debts.
• Insolvency officers will begin processing insolvency filings and issue Proofs of Claim to trustees. Officers will virtually attend creditor meetings for the re-assessment of proposal payments due to a material change in a debtors financial situation due to COVID-19 and begin action on high risk files.
• All programs will activate employees to address taxpayer requested calls and correspondence.
• Trust Exam Program and Employer Compliance Audit will launch pilot CEWS post payment compliance project, respond to CPP/EI rulings and accept insolvency referrals from the Collections program.

The following activities will be undertaken following the Agency’s readiness assessment

Anticipated start date: September 2020

• More stringent requirements and case-by-case review for removal of previous collection and compliance actions
• The DMCC will begin initiating outbound calls to debtors in order to pursue payment arrangements
• Collection Officers will reconnect with debtors in their inventories to re-evaluate their financial situation and agree to a payment arrangement where possible. No legal actions will be taken.
• Expanding assistance to vulnerable taxpayers to help them meet compliance obligations (e.g. non-filer helping with tax return preparation, non-filer benefit letters)
• The Non-Filer Program will focus on deliberate non-compliant population working in the Underground Economy (UE) through the development of projects and leads, including raising 152(7) assessments for targeted populations
• Restore T1 Processing Review programs (T1PR, Pre and Post-Matching) with tailored strategies to educate taxpayers, correct returns and address highest risk files
• Full resumption of Part XIII Non-Resident Withholding activities
• Contact employers using Automated Dialing and Announcing Device (ADAD) campaigns to remind them of upcoming filing requirements
• Fully re-instate GST/HST Delinquent Filer program’s automated compliance process with mail outs, automated assessments, and the holding of refunds for non-compliant registrants
• Begin additional post-payment validation of new programs introduced as a result of COVID-19 (i.e. CERB, CEWS and CESB)
• Business compliance reviews, information audits and outreach will continue in the fall and may not result in a reassessment, but rather be an information review where errors found can be reviewed with the business and revisited for correction in future years
• Resume additional employer compliance work to support employees or assist other functions. Reassessment of employers would result in benefits to the employees.

Anticipated start date: October 2020

• Individual Compliance: Non-filer automated mail-outs
• Collections automated strategies reactivated with collection letters

Anticipated start date: January 2021

• Collections: Officers will resume the more traditional approach to collections where legal warnings will be issued by officers if a payment arrangement is not negotiated. If no mutually satisfactory payment arrangement is proposed, legal actions may commence. Business Intelligence will be leveraged to identify and prioritize higher-risk files, where there has been previous non-compliance history.

Note: Some activity may be accelerated to September where compliance risks exist and client situation permits.

Compliance Programs Branch (CPB)

In addition to high risk work already underway under the CRA BCP, including Criminal Investigations, all:

• High Net Worth Compliance Programs
• GST/HST Refund Integrity program (Full Program)
• GST/HST Large Business

The following activities will be undertaken following the Agency’s readiness assessment

Anticipated start date: September 2020

• Small and medium Income tax and GST/HST programs: letter writing/nudge campaigns and social media

Anticipated start date: October 2020

• Medium Business Audits Program, Complex Transactions Program, Non-Resident Audit Program (Income Tax) and Medium GST/HST audits with the exception of audits in the MUSH (Municipalities, Universities, Schools and Hospitals) sector which for now be the focus of educational outreach

Anticipated start date: TBD

• Small Business audits (Income Tax & GST/HST), and Desk audits (GST/HST) for businesses with gross revenue greater than $500,000 (Income Tax) and $250,000 (GST/HST)

Anticipated start date: January 2021

• Full resumption of all remaining SMED and GST/HST Programs

Note: Some activity may be accelerated to September where compliance risks exist and client situation permits.

Finance and Administration Branch (FAB)

• Addressing backlog, such as Personnel Security Screening renewals, Misdirected Mail, Posting/Closing Requests for Proposals, Office Print Project, Knowledge and Research requests, approvals of Furniture/chair requests
• Review, development and implementation of Corporate Policy Instruments

The following activities will be undertaken following the Agency’s readiness assessment

Anticipated start date: September 2020

• Internal controls assessments of financial processes and follow-ups
• Service Enhancement Project
• Delivery of the digital mailroom solution to certain clients
• Various internal branch projects and initiatives on hold as they are dependant on participation from stakeholders that are currently engaged in critical service delivery
• Management action plans responding to the recent Real Property internal audit (Q3 2020/202)

Anticipated start date: TBD

• Misdirected Mail (depending on access to the workplace)
• Supporting Project Management Community – Project Management Symposium (dependant on when large gatherings are permitted)

Human Resources Branch (HRB)

• Non-EX Classification
• Non-EX Performance Management
• Standardized Assessment
• Recognition
• Official Languages
• Employment Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
• Staffing Redesign
• Planning and training for GCWCC campaign
• Second language assessment (oral) for high priority needs
• Training and Learning (National HR Operations)
• Recognition
• Discrimination & Harassment Centre of Expertise (DHCE) – advice & guidance
• Informal Conflict Resolution (ICR) – consultation and coaching
• Values and Ethics
• Corporate Workforce Planning (note: AWP activities will fully resume)
• Demographics and HR Data Analytics
• PSES and other surveys
• People Management Measurement and Reporting
• CAS HRMT Support

The following activities will be undertaken following the Agency’s readiness assessment

• Reporting Activities toward all branches
• DHCE – all other services
• Classification Modernization
• Performance Management Redesign
• ICR – Mediation, group processes, workplace restoration, outreach and training
• Award of Excellence
• Second language assessment (written-comprehension)

Information Technology Branch (ITB)

• All activities have resumed

Legal Services Branch

• Legal advice, administrative and litigation support services continues

The following activities will be undertaken following the Agency’s readiness assessment

• Reminder letters to Canada Student Loan debtors regarding voluntary payments, to mirror CVB implementation
• Collections Legal Actions and Enforcement for Student Loans Collections activities (aligning with tax collection strategies)

Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch (LPRAB)

• Charities - voluntary revocations, no change audits, high risk audits, and support Appeals objection decisions
• International Relations Tax Office
• Registered Plans Directorate (RPD - no change audits)
• Excise duty regulatory reviews of high risk licensees

The following activities will be undertaken following the Agency’s readiness assessment

Anticipated start date: September 2020

• CPP/EI Rulings (resume all activities)
• Excise duty regulatory reviews
• RPD (except audit activities unless audit is requested or almost statute barred and high risk)
• Charities (resume all activities except audits unless audit is requested or almost statute barred)

Anticipated start date: January 2021

• Charities Audits
• Excise Audits
• RPD Audits

Note: Some activity may be accelerated to September where compliance risks exist and client situation permits.

Public Affairs Branch

• ATIP Activities

Service, Innovation, and Integration Branch (SIIB)

• All activities have resumed in alignment with current Agency priorities and based on ability and capacity to support.

Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman

• Remaining functions will resume based on ability and capacity to support normal and COVID-19 priorities simultaneously.

Response by Phases of Pandemic

As we progress through phases of the pandemic, business resumption priorities and associated strategies will be reviewed and adjusted accordingly.