Measuring the Impact of Outreach Visits on New Business Registrants in the Atlantic Region

Prepared for the:
Public Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
FINAL REPORT
March 2010
POR# 061-09
Contract #46558-102287/001/CY

Prepared by:
Corporate Research Associates, Inc.

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Executive Summary

The Measuring the Impact of Outreach Visits on New Business Registrants in the Atlantic Region study seeks to understand if there are quantifiable attitudinal and knowledge differences between visited and non-visited new business registrants vis-à-vis tax filing, tax payments, tax reporting, and related compliance matters. Corporate Research Associates, Inc. was commissioned to conduct the study, on behalf of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), at a total contracted project cost of $29,957 plus HST, to help determine the impact of in-person visits by CRA personnel to new business registrants. The research for this study entailed an experimental design. Businesses included in the study population were, shortly after registration with the CRA between August 2007 and September 2009, randomly assigned by the Agency to either: 1) a group that was offered an in-person visit from CRA personnel (Treatment Group); or 2) a group that was not offered such a visit (Control Group).

Invitation letters to participate in the research were mailed by the CRA to a sample of new business registrants, inviting these businesses to call Corporate Research Associates and complete the survey. Corporate Research Associates conducted a total of 263 telephone interviews with new business registrants; 128 did not receive any sort of invitation from the CRA (Control Group), 40 received an invitation, but refused a visit (Treatment Group, Refused), and 95 received and accepted the invitation of an in-person visit from CRA personnel (Treatment Group, Accepted). Results were analyzed to identify any statistically significant differences in opinion among the three respondent groups, as well as to identify any statistical differences in opinion between the Control Group and Treatment Group (Refused and Accepted, combined). Findings from this research will be used to help guide future outreach initiatives designed for newer businesses. Based on analysis, it can be assumed with confidence that the findings from the sample can be extrapolated to the larger population of new business registrants.

Results of the Measuring the Impact of Outreach Visits on New Business Registrants in the Atlantic Region study indicate there are some minor attitudinal and/or knowledge differences that could be attributed to the New Business Registrant Outreach Initiative. Two key areas of differentiation are the business registrants’ perceptions of the CRA with respect to the provision of face-to-face service, and also in regards to visibility in the community, where those registrants that received an in-person visit offer a more favourable assessment of the CRA compared with those who refused a visit or were not offered a visit. Despite the higher assessments noted within the Treatment Group, there still remains an opportunity for the CRA to further improve perceptions of the Agency’s visibility across both the treatment and control groups.

In addition to these attitudinal differences, a few demographic differences are noted: those new business registrants that refused a visit are more likely than those who accepted a visit to have held a senior management position prior to registering their new business, and also tend to employ more full-time employees.

With relatively few differences in attitudes or knowledge that may be attributed to the initiative, there is an opportunity for the Canada Revenue Agency to ensure that the content of any potential future outreach strategies address key issues identified by new business registrants. For example, there is a moderate level of concern expressed by businesses regarding the clarity and burden associated with the registration process, and offer lower ratings of the CRA with respect to providing information that is easy to understand. In addition, there appears to be a lack of knowledge regarding the penalties that are assessed when a business fails to report income.

For a notable minority of business registrants, completing business and personal tax returns is a challenge, and any future initiatives could include education in this important area. Given that accessibility of CRA staff members is also identified as an issue, there is also an opportunity to provide information to new business registrants to allow them to determine quickly and easily, to which area of the CRA they should address their queries.

The following high-level conclusions are derived from the detailed analysis of the survey data:

• The in-person visits with new business registrants appear to have improved these businesses’ perceptions of the Canada Revenue Agency in terms of providing face-to-face service and visibility in the community.
• The biggest hurdles with respect to tax obligation knowledge for new business registrants are in the area of completing personal and corporate tax returns.
• New business registrants express some degree of concern about the administrative burden associated with the business registration process.
• While the majority of new business registrants feel comfortable with the CRA’s ability to catch businesses that do not declare all of their income, they are less likely to agree financial penalties are set at an appropriate level.
• Being able to access CRA personnel, knowing who to contact at the Canada Revenue Agency, and "going that extra mile" are areas to improve new business registrants’ perceptions of the Agency.

Date modified:

2010-08-06