The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) collected almost $330 billion in 2005-2006 on behalf of Canada and its provincial and territorial governments (except Quebec) and certain First Nations. In addition, we delivered millions of dollars in income-based benefits, credits, and other services that contribute directly to the economic and social well-being of Canadians.

Under its mandate, the CRA has two strategic outcomes:

• taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada's revenue base is protected; and
• eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments, contributing to the integrity of Canada's income security system.

Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada's revenue base is protected

Canada's tax laws set out taxpayers' obligations; the CRA's fundamental objective and approach to tax administration is to have individuals and businesses comply with their obligations without our intervention. When any of these obligations are not met, our program activities to identify, correct, and deter non-compliance help protect Canada's revenue base.

Results against our strategic outcome measures for filing, registration, and remittance compliance lead us to conclude that the majority of Canadian individuals and businesses continued to participate voluntarily in Canada's tax system and to meet their obligations in 2005-2006:

• We met our 90% target for the timely filing of returns in three of four categories (i.e., for individuals, GST/HST registrants, and employers), while a slightly lower percentage of taxable corporations did so (86%), mostly meeting our expectation.
• We consider our estimate of 89.5% of Canadian businesses registered for the GST to have mostly met our 90% target.
• We met our 90% timely remittance target for individuals in 2005-2006. Our estimates that over 88% of payments from taxable corporations and employers were remitted on time mostly met our expectation. We are taking steps to address the general decline in our Remittance Compliance indicator results.

Reporting compliance results achieved in 2005-2006 provide the foundation for our assessment that, for the vast majority of Canadians, the incidence and magnitude of non-compliance are relatively low, although in total it is financially significant. Based largely on this assessment, we conclude that the CRA in 2005-2006 met this strategic outcome.

Our strong performance in 2005-2006 against the expected results related to our tax-related program activities lends additional support to our assertion that the CRA promoted compliance with taxpayer obligations and protected Canada's revenue base.

Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments, contributing to the integrity of Canada's income security system

This strategic outcome—and the measures we employ to evaluate our success—focus on the timeliness and correctness of the payments we issue, as well as on the contribution we make to provinces and territories as a key service provider. It is important that the payments we issue be timely and correct; for some recipients, tax-free benefit payments make up a substantial portion of their monthly income. We also conduct review activities to verify that benefits and credits are issued only to recipients who are eligible for them, and that they receive the correct amounts in accordance with applicable legislation. In addition, our mandated flexibilities as an agency and the adaptability of our systems enable us to leverage our federal delivery infrastructure to administer a range of ongoing benefits, one-time payment programs, and other services on behalf of provinces and territories.

In 2005-2006, we met our targets for timely and correct benefit payments:

• We issued over 99.9% of payments on time for the benefit programs that we administer.
• We estimate that over 95% of CCTB accounts had complete and accurate payment and account information.

In 2005-2006, we administered 66 different programs and services for provinces, territories, and other government departments, an increase from the 58 administered in 2004-2005. The fact that most jurisdictions have adopted the use of our delivery system strongly suggests that the leveraging of our federal delivery infrastructure is cost-effective compared with the theoretical cost of developing independent provincial and territorial administrative systems.

Agency Governance

Under our unique governance structure, our Board of Management has taken on many oversight and control functions: the organization and administration of the CRA; the management of its resources, services, property, personnel, and contracts; and the development of the Corporate Business Plan.

In 2005-2006 the Board provided oversight and guidance on issues such as succession planning, accounting and financial systems, infrastructure management, information technology, and performance reporting.

While the Board of Management is not directly involved in the delivery of tax and benefit programs, the high-level, strategic nature of the Board's work means that its influence is felt throughout our internal operations and external service delivery. Ultimately, the benefits of our effectively managed organization are felt by those we serve.

Conclusion

Overall, the results we have achieved in 2005-2006 demonstrate that we have again met our strategic outcomes for tax services and benefit programs. This success once again has demonstrated our capacity to achieve tangible and meaningful results for Canadians.

Our legislative flexibilities as an agency, our business expertise, and the adaptability of our automated systems enabled us to reliably deliver tax and benefit programs and services in 2005-2006—not only for the Government of Canada—but also for provinces, territories, and certain First Nations.

As the CRA moves into the next phase of its evolution, we will continue to take full advantage of our agency status as a service provider for all Canadians, adjusting our focus as necessary to serve Canada in the best way possible.

Unaudited

Date modified:

2006-11-23