annual report to parliament 2012-2013

[a message from the commissioner of revenue and chief executive officer]

As Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CRA, I am pleased to present this year's Annual Report. In my role as Commissioner I am accountable to the Minister of National Revenue for the performance of our tax and benefit programs and to our Board of Management for the administration of the CRA. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both the Minister and the Board for the generous support they have provided since my appointment in January.

As you read this report you will note the themes of service, compliance, integrity and innovation appear throughout the document. Together, these four themes speak to the essence of our approach to tax and benefits administration and represent the foundation upon which we are constructing our road map for future change at the CRA.

The performance results found in this report demonstrate the CRA's reputation for excellence. This year's results also confirm that the way the CRA provides service to businesses and individuals is continuing to evolve. This filing season 76% of the tax and benefit returns received by the CRA were filed electronically. Our CRA Web site received over 100 million visits, representing a 21% increase over the previous year. Each year, a growing number of individuals and businesses are embracing CRA e-services and electronic information products. Our e-service strategy is allowing us to address the service expectations and needs of the people and businesses that we serve and reduce the cost of service delivery. As we move forward, we will also take care to ensure that we continue to address the service needs of all of our clients.

The CRA is in the midst of transformative changes that are driven by technological advancements, societal change and our strategic vision. In addition, business transformation at the CRA is propelled by a need to support the priorities of government. The CRA continued its leadership role in support of government wide initiatives. In 2012-2013, we played a major role in the implementation of several important whole of government initiatives such as Red Tape Reduction and the launch of Shared Services Canada. As well, we moved to streamline our backroom operations to reduce administrative cost in order to meet the deficit reduction commitments announced in the 2013 Federal Budget. These spending reductions were achieved without impacting the CRA's frontline compliance or service delivery capacity.

"I strongly believe that we must remain vigilant in our efforts to ensure that the CRA administers our tax and benefits regime in a way that is fair, impartial, transparent and beyond reproach." -- Andrew Treusch

I would like to highlight the importance of integrity and compliance. One of my first actions as Commissioner was to implement changes to strengthen the CRA's integrity framework. I strongly believe that we must remain vigilant in our efforts to ensure that the CRA administers our tax and benefits regime in a way that is fair, impartial, transparent and beyond reproach. The trust that Canadians place in the integrity of our tax and benefits administration is the bedrock that supports our self-assessment system. Trust in our system is also built and preserved by ensuring that everyone pays their share. This is why the Underground Economy and Aggressive Tax Planning schemes are of special concern to us as tax administrators. They erode the tax base and they undermine the trust that Canadians place in the fairness and equity of our tax system. The CRA is aggressively tackling these difficult issues through greater international cooperation and the implementation of legislative initiatives to strengthen our administrative and enforcement tools. We view non-compliance as a direct and real threat to the integrity of our self-assessment system and we will continue to focus resources on addressing and mitigating its impact.

As the Commissioner of the CRA, I am proud of the results we have achieved this past year. In submitting this report, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all of our employees. The true strength of our organization is our capable and dedicated staff. The perseverance and hard work demonstrated everyday by our employees and management has made these successful results possible.

Andrew Treusch
Commissioner of Revenue and Chief Executive Officer of the CRA

Date modified:

2013-11-06