Annual Report to parliament 2010-2011

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Schedule B – Service standards at the CRA

About our service standards

Maintaining the confidence of Canadians in the integrity of the tax system is essential to the success of the CRA. Service standards that are reasonable and consistently met contribute to increasing the level of confidence that Canadians place in government. Our service standards publicly state the level of performance that citizens can reasonably expect to encounter from the CRA under normal circumstances. We set targets that state the percentage of time or level of accuracy that we expect to attain for the established standard. Targets represent the percentage or degree of improvement we expect to attain, based on operational realities such as resource availability, infrastructure, historical performance, the public’s expectations, and the complexity of the work. Our standards and targets are reviewed annually and updated, as necessary.

Implementation of results of the CRA Service Standards Review Project

In 2009-2010, the CRA completed a comprehensive review of its service standards. Its aim was to ensure that our service standards properly reflect the evolution of the CRA and provide taxpayers and benefit recipients with appropriate information on the standard of service the CRA offers. Generally, the results of the review were positive, with the CRA having a good mix of timeliness, accuracy, and accessibility standards for key services. Measurement processes are appropriately focused and targets are sufficiently ambitious and challenging for the program delivery areas. Benchmarking research conducted as part of the review showed the CRA to be at the forefront of the development of service standards within a public sector results-based management context, not only relative to other tax administrations around the world but within the Canadian federal government itself. Even though the results of the review were primarily positive, some service standard processes were identified as needing improvement. As this annual report attests, the CRA has been actively addressing these areas over the last year.

Specifically, the CRA created new service standard Web pages that will help taxpayers to navigate the existing service standards. Release of the Web pages is slated for later this year. We have also taken steps to ensure that we have effective means to incorporate client perspectives in service standard development. A new reporting framework for service standards has been developed to maximize the capture of performance data for corporate reporting purposes and new processes have been implemented to ensure horizontal impacts are considered in the development, modification, or retirement of service standards. Lastly, we have updated our CRA Guide to Service Standards to provide consistent direction to CRA managers and staff at any stage of the life cycle management of their external service standards.

2010 Fall report of the Auditor General of Canada – Chapter 3 – Service delivery

In 2009-2010, the Auditor General of Canada examined the service delivery practices of three federal organizations – Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and the CRA. The review assessed how the organizations set their service standards, monitored and reported on their service performance, and acted on this information to improve service quality. In Chapter 3 – Service Delivery, of her 2010 Fall Report to Parliament, the Auditor General concluded that the CRA has established standards for services it has determined are important to its clients, that it has well-established processes to assess its clients’ needs, and that it regularly monitors and reports its performance against these service standards.

This year, we are reporting, both in earlier sections of this report and here, on those standards which have under- and over-achieved against targets.

Our service standard results

NOTE : Where service standards are expressed in terms of a number of days, they refer to calendar days, unless otherwise specified.

Results for prior years have been revised based on updated information.

Building trust to promote compliance:

Service
Service Standard
Current target
2006‑
2007
2007-
2008
2008-
2009
2009-
2010
2010-
2011
Rating
General enquiries – telephone
Our goal is to respond to calls in agent queue within two minutes.
80%
82%
83%
82.4%
80.9%
81.8%
Met
Business enquiries – telephone
Our goal is to respond to calls in the agent queue within two minutes.
80%
81%
81.7%
86.8%
86.1%
84.1%
Met
Charities – responding to telephone enquiries
Our goal is to respond to calls in agent queue within two minutes.
80%
88%
86%
87%
89.9%
84.4%
Met
Charities – responding to applications for charitable registrations Table note 1
  1. simple applications
  2. regular applications
Our goal is to review and respond to applications for charitable registration upon receipt of a complete application within established standards.
80%
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
a)85.9%
b)95.0%
Met
Advance income tax rulings to taxpayers
Our goal is to issue advance income tax rulings to taxpayers within an average of 60 calendar days of receipt of all essential information.
100%
94 days
101 days
104 days
98 days
102 days
Not met
Technical interpretations to taxpayers
Our goal is to issue technical interpretations to taxpayers within an average of 90 calendar days of receipt of a request.
100%
105 days
89 days
91 days
89 days
87
days
Met
GST/HST rulings and interpretations – telephone enquiries Table note 2
Our goal is to respond to calls in the queue within two minutes.
80%
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
86%
Met
GST/HST rulings and interpretations – written enquiries
Our goal is to respond to written requests for
GST/HST rulings and interpretations within 45 working days of receipt in the CRA. This excludes highly technical and precedent and/or policy-setting rulings and interpretations.
80%
87.2%
89.4%
92.8%
94.1%
46.5% Table note 3
Not met
Applications to register pension plans
Our goal is to complete a full review and provide a response on applications to register pension plans within 180 calendar days.
85%
96.6%
93.9%
92.2%
86.5%
94.4%
Met
Amendments to registered pension plans
Our goal is to review pension plan amendments for compliance with the Income Tax Act within nine months.
80%
82.1%
76.6%
70.9%
67.2%
77.1%
Mostly met
Retirement savings plans (applications to register, amend, or terminate)
Our goal is to respond to applications to register, amend, or terminate Retirement Savings Plans (RSPs) within 60 calendar days.
80%
85.3%
84.9%
86.7%
80.1%
86.3%
Met
Retirement income funds (applications to register, amend, or terminate)
Our goal is to respond to applications to register, amend, or terminate retirement income funds within 60 calendar days.
80%
91.2%
90.5%
94.4%
92.6%
94%
Met
Education savings plans (applications to register, amend, or terminate)
Our goal is to respond to applications to approve, amend, or terminate education savings plans specimen plans within 60 calendar days.
85%
85.3%
71.4%
93.1%
95%
92.1%
Met
Actuarial valuation reports
Our goal is to review actuarial valuation reports within nine months and provide written approval of the recommended employer contributions.
80%
35.5%
55.9%
63%
58.9%
63.4%
Met
Deferred income plans – response to written enquiries
Our goal is to respond to written enquiries within 60 calendar days.
80%
60.2%
37.6%
64.8%
71.4%
85.9%
Met
Deferred profit-sharing plans – registrations
Our goal is to review applications to register new deferred profit sharing plans within 180 days.
80%
98.9%
96.8%
99.8%
99.4%
100%
Met
Deferred profit-sharing plans – amendments and terminations
Our goal is to review requests to amend and to terminate plans within 270 days.
80%
89%
86.5%
88.4%
52.1%
81.4%
Met
Processing fairness requests related to accounts receivable and trust accounts programs
Our goal is to process taxpayer relief requests within four to six weeks provided all requisite information has been received.
90%
Not available Table note 4
Not available
Table note 4
Not available
Table note 4
Not available
Table note 4
Not available
Table note 4
Initial contact letter for disputes
Our goal is to acknowledge taxpayer disputes within 30 calendar days after we receive them.
85%
89%
84%
68%
50%
51%
Not met
Problem Resolution Program
Our goal is to acknowledge receipt of a problem within two working days.
95%
96.7%
95.1%
95.5%
97.1%
95.3%
Met
Problem Resolution Program
Our goal is to resolve the problem within 15 working days. If we cannot (for example, if a case is complex), we will make contact within that time to indicate an anticipated date of resolution.
95%
96.7%
95.4%
95.9%
96.6%
95.3%
Met
Table note 1
New standard and target for 2010-2011. Return to table note 1 source text
Table note 2
New standard and target for 2010-2011. Return to table note 2 source text
Table note 3
The implementation of the HST in Ontario and British Columbia resulted in a significant increase in the number of enquiries. Although additional staff were hired and inventory management strategies were used, intake exceeded our ability to meet the standard. Return to table note 3 source text
Table note 4
Reliable data not available

Strengthening service to make compliance easier:

Service
Service Standard
Current target
2006‑
2007
2007-
2008
2008-2009
2009-
2010
2010-2011
Rating
Responding to taxpayer- requested adjustments (T1)
Our goal is to complete the adjustment and mail a Notice of Reassessment within an average of eight weeks provided all requisite information has been received from the taxpayer.
100%
7 weeks
7 weeks
7 weeks
7 weeks
7.2 weeks
Met
Responding to taxpayer- requested adjustments (T1) received via the Internet Table note 1
Our goal is to complete the adjustment and mail a Notice of Reassessment within an average of two weeks provided all requisite information has been received from the taxpayer.
100%
Not applicable
2 weeks
2 weeks
2 weeks
1.8 weeks
Met
Processing T1 individual income tax returns (paper)
Our goal is to process a paper T1 return and mail a Notice of Assessment and refund, if applicable, in an average of four to six weeks.
100%
3.9 weeks
4.1 weeks
4.0 weeks
4.3 weeks
3.9 weeks
Met
Processing T1 individual income tax returns (electronic)
Our goal is to process electronic T1 returns (EFILE, TELEFILE, and NETFILE) within an average of two weeks of receipt.
100%
1.6 weeks
1.7 weeks
1.6 weeks
1.6 weeks
1.7 weeks
Met
Processing T3 trust returns
Our goal is to process T3 trust returns within four months.
95%
95.7%
98%
97.2%
97.6%
98.5%
Met
Processing excise tax, excise duty, softwood lumber returns and air travellers security charge returns
Our goal is to assess excise tax, excise duty, softwood lumber returns, and air travellers security charge returns within 90 days of receipt.
95%
98.1%
98.2%
99%
97%
97.6%
Met
Processing GST/HST returns
Our goal is to process GST/HST returns within 30 calendar days of receipt.
95%
98.5%
91.9%
97.3% Table note 2
Not available Table note 3
90.3% Table note 4
Mostly met
Processing T2 corporation income tax returns
Our goal is to assess T2 returns (corporation income tax) within 60 days.
90%
Not applicable
92%
90.8%
92.8%
94.5%
Met
Table note 1
New standard and target for 2007-2008. Return to table note 1 source text
Table note 2
The standard was changed from 21 days to 30 days to align with legislative changes. Return to table note 2 source text
Table note 3
Substantiated results not available for 2009-2010. Return to table note 3 source text
Table note 4
Revised data capture method began June 2010. Return to table note 4 source text

Making non-compliance more difficult

Service
Service Standard
Current target
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-2011
Rating
SR&ED refundable claims
Our goal is to process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) in Canada within 120 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim for refundable claims.
90%
96.1%
96.3%
96.3%
96.3%
96.5%
Met
SR&ED non-refundable claims
Our goal is to process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) in Canada within 365 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim for non-refundable claims.
90%
96.1%
96.8%
97.3%
96%
96.7%
Met
SR&ED claimant-requested adjustments to refundable claims
Our goal is to process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) in Canada within 240 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim, for refundable claims related to adjustments requested to previously filed income tax returns.
90%
96.8%
97.1%
96.9%
97.3%
96.8%
Met
SR&ED claimant-requested adjustments to non‑refundable claims
Our goal is to process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) in Canada within 365 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim, for non-refundable claims related to adjustments requested to previously filed income tax returns.
90%
92.9%
95.1%
96.4%
95.4%
94.9%
Met
Video and film tax credits – refundable claims (unaudited)
Our goal is to review T2 corporation income tax returns that include claims for the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit, the BC Film and Television Tax Credit, the BC Production Services Tax Credit, the Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit, and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit within 60 calendar days from the date of receipt where no audit action is undertaken.
90%
96.6%
96.6%
96.4%
92.9%
94.8%
Met
Video and film tax credits – refundable claims (audited)
Our goal is to review T2 corporation income tax returns that include claims for the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit, the BC Film and Television Tax Credit, the BC Production Services Tax Credit, the Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit, and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit within 120 calendar days from the date of receipt where audit action is undertaken.
90%
96%
95.9%
96.3%
91.9%
91.2%
Met

Making it easier to receive the right social benefits:

Service
Service Standard
Current target
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-2011
Rating
Canada Child Tax Benefit – telephone enquiries
Our goal is to respond to calls in the agent queue within two minutes.
75%
75%
78.3%
78%
74.9%
76.4%
Met
Processing benefit applications and marital status change forms – timeliness
Our goal is to issue a payment, notice, or explanation within 80 calendar days.
98%
99%
99.1%
97.4%
98.8%
98.7%
Met
Processing benefit applications and marital status change forms – accuracy
Our goal is to accurately process the appropriate payment and notice and, if necessary, issue a letter requesting additional information.
98%
Not applicable
98%
97.7%
97.4%
99.1%
Met
Responding to benefit and credit enquiries – timeliness
Our goal is to respond to written enquiries and telephone referrals from call centres within 80 calendar days
98%
97.8%
99%
98%
93%
94.9%
Mostly met
Responding to benefit and credit enquiries – accuracy
Our goal is to respond to written enquiries and telephone referrals from call centres, with correct information, and accurately process new recipient information, including issuing a payment, notice, or letter.
98%
Not applicable
97.3%
97.1%
99.3%
98.6%
Met
Validation and control – results of review
Our goal is to inform you of the result of our review within 45 days after we receive the information requested.
90%
Not applicable
98.7%
97%
94.2%
96.4%
Met
Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative – timeliness (peak)
Our goal is to process your request to authorize or cancel a representative received during peak tax time (mid-March to mid-July) within 20 business days of receipt by the CRA.
90%
76.8%
91%
75.8%
93.8%
87.1%
Mostly met
Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative – accuracy (peak) Table note 1
Our goal is to accurately process your request to authorize or cancel a representative; if necessary, we will send you a letter requesting additional information.
98%
Not applicable
Not applicable
99%
99%
99.4%
Met
Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative – timeliness (non-peak)
Our goal is to process your request to authorize or cancel a representative received during non-peak tax time (mid-July to mid-March) within five business days of receipt by the CRA.
90%
32.8%
75.3%
72.1%
63%
78.2%
Not met
Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative – accuracy (non-peak) 1
Our goal is to accurately process your request to authorize or cancel a representative; if necessary, we will send you a letter requesting additional information.
98%
Not applicable
Not applicable
97.9%
99%
99%
Met
Table note 1
Standard introduced in 2008-2009. Return to table note 1 source text

Internal services

Service
Service Standard
Current target
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-2011
Rating
External requests for statistical tax data
Our goal is to respond to taxpayer requests for statistical data within an average of 30 calendar days.
100%
28 days
29 days
28 days
22 days
14 days
Met

Service standards under development in 2011-2012

These proposed service standards may change as a result of resource constraints.

Strategic Theme
Service Standard
Proposed Target
Building Trust to Promote Compliance
Deferred profit sharing plans – registrations, amendments, and terminations – this standard would combine registration in 180 days with amendments and terminations in 270 days. Further study is required before implementing this service standard.
80%
Respond to applications to register, amend, or terminate specialty products within 60 calendar days. This standard would combine retirement savings plans and retirement income funds.
To be determined
Charities – The goal is to respond to written enquiries within established Table note 1 standards.
80%
E-Services Helpdesk telephone enquiries.
To be determined
Enquiries, CRA Service complaints – Our goal is to acknowledge receipt of the complaint within two days.
90%
Enquiries, CRA Service complaints – Our goal is to provide contact every 15 business days until the complaint is resolved.
90%
Enquiries, CRA Service complaints – Our goal is to communicate the resolution of the complaint within 30 business days of its receipt.
90%
Processing income tax, commodity tax, and CPP/EI disputes – Single issue disputes. Our goal is to inform taxpayers of our decision within XX Table note 2 days.
To be determined
Taxpayer Relief Program – Our goal is to acknowledge receipt of relief requests within XX Table note 2 days.
To be determined
Taxpayer Relief Program – Our goal is to communicate the decision on the relief request within XX Table note 2 days.
To be determined
First contact letter for disputes involving single issues. Our goal is to acknowledge receipt of requests for redress within XX Table note 2 days.
To be determined
Making it Easier to Receive the Right Social Benefits
The Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales tax (GST/HST) Credit – Telephone – Respond to calls in the agent queue within two minutes
75%
Table note 1
Routine enquiries – within 45 days of receipt; complex enquiries – within 75 days of receipt Return to table note 1 source text
Table note 2
The timeframe is under development

Challenges/exceptions

Building Trust to Promote Compliance

Advance income tax rulings to taxpayers

The turnaround time for advance income tax rulings during the 2010-2011 fiscal year followed the same pattern of recent years, of being in excess of our published service standard. With the ever-increasing complexity of the advance income tax rulings files, we will be re-examining the service standard in 2011‑2012, as well as the technical interpretations service standard.

Figure 11 Advance income tax rulings to taxpayers

Data quality: Good

Applications to register pension plans

We exceeded this service standard by 9% and increased our results compared to last year by almost 8%.

This workload is treated as a high priority. Registered pension plan administrators and employers need the pension plan’s registration number in order to complete other filings, including T4s. In addition, the early identification of non-compliance mitigates the potential adverse tax liabilities to employers and plan members.

To streamline the plan registration process, we assess the potential risk of each application based on the information provided by the plan administrator on Form T510, Application to Register a Pension Plan. Approximately 22% of these applications were identified as being at low risk for non‑compliance and were accepted without further review.

Figure 12 Applications to register pension plans

Data quality: Good

Retirement income funds (applications to register, amend, or terminate)

We exceeded our service standard by 14% and increased our results compared to last year by 1%. This workload is treated as a high priority. New and amended specimen plans affect many contracts with individuals.

In 2009, we adopted a new tracking system called Registered Plans Application Suite (RPAS). This new system keeps track of cases instead of submissions. As a result, although workload remained fairly stable, RPAS reporting caused a decrease in the number of submissions being input and reported. We also changed the way we processed Provincial and Federal Retirement Savings Plan and Retirement Income Fund Addendums. This also contributed to the decrease in submissions being input and reported.

Figure 13 Retirement income funds (applications to register, amend, or terminate)

Data quality: Good

Actuarial valuation reports

Although we did not meet our target, we increased our results by 4% compared to the same period last year.

There is a large backlog of older actuarial valuation reports. As we focus on reviewing older actuarial valuation reports first, a greater percentage of completed submissions exceed the 270 day standard.

We have found significant non-compliance in the actuarial valuation reports with respect to certain categories of registered pension plans. These plans represent a large percentage of plans currently registered. As a result, identifying and dealing with this non-compliance has increased the average time to complete a submission. This, in conjunction with dedicating resources to ensure that other standards have been met caused a reduction in the number of actuarial valuation reports reviewed this year. Steps will be taken next year to improve upon this result.

Figure 14 Actuarial valuation reports (AVR)

Data quality: Good
Deferred profit-sharing plans – registrations

We continued to exceed this service standard, which is a similar result compared to last year (‑1% difference). This workload is treated as a high priority. Plan sponsors and employers need the plan’s registration number in order to complete other filings, including T4s.

In addition, the early identification of non-compliance mitigates the potential adverse tax liabilities to employers and plan members.

Figure 15 Deferred profit-sharing plans – registrations

Data quality: Good
Charities – Responding to applications for charitable registrations

In addition to assigning additional staff to this program, various process improvements were implemented such as streamlining work, standardizing file approach, and utilizing the workflow tracking system to its fullest capacity. These process improvements enabled the program to meet and surpass the new service targets. We expect performance levels to be closer to the targets in 2011‑2012.

Figure 16 Charities – Responding to applications for charitable registrations

Data quality: Good
GST / HST rulings and interpretations – Written enquiries

The implementation of the HST in Ontario and British Columbia resulted in a significant increase in the number of requests for rulings and interpretations received during this fiscal year. The program experienced a 46% increase in the number of written requests compared to 2009-2010.

Although additional staff were hired and inventory management strategies were used to address increased volumes, intake still exceeded our ability to manage incoming requests in a timely manner. As a result, we were unable to meet our published service standard for written requests.

The introduction of provincial flexibilities and new legislation (e.g., place of supply, point of sale and recaptured input tax credits) also increased average case completion times, resulting in higher inventories.

Figure 17 GST/HST rulings and interpretations – Written enquiries

Data quality: Good
Initial contact letter for disputes

In the immediately preceding reporting periods, the CRA had a significant increase in disputes from taxpayers impacted by the CRA approach to aggressive tax plans. We continue to preserve our high standards for quality and accuracy of reviews in the processing of disputes; however, this has been at the expense of overall timeliness.

This year, we continued the administrative workload strategies launched late last year and made an internal reallocation of resources to stabilize the front-end management activities of our redress process. We anticipate improvement in timeliness in the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

Figure 18 Initial contact letter for disputes

Data quality: Good

Making it Easier to Receive the Right Social Benefits

Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative – Timeliness (non-peak)

We strive to process a request that is received during non-peak tax time (mid-July to mid-March) within five business days. We aim to meet this standard 90% of the time. Our performance has improved since last year due to system enhancements. However, we are still experiencing challenges associated with the timely routing of request forms. Steps are being taken to address these delays in affected regions. These involve process improvements, and ensuring that the requests are given the appropriate priority. These steps should allow us to improve our timeliness performance by 2012-2013.

Figure 19 Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative – Timeliness (non-peak)

Data quality: Good

Internal Services

External requests for statistical tax data

Our goal is to respond to taxpayer requests for statistical data within an average of 30 calendar days. Our target is to meet this standard 100% of the time. This standard was met this year and the number of days to respond to a request continued to decline from past years. Requests were responded to more quickly this year due to several factors: a strong and stable workforce; several requests were similar to those in previous years; and several of the requests were not complex in nature.

Figure 20 External requests for statistical tax data

Data quality: Good




Date modified:
2011-11-02