CRA Annual Corporate Survey: 2010 Study

Prepared for the:
Public Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
December 2010
POR# 009-10
Contract #46558-118384/001/CY

Prepared by:
Environics Research Group

Le rapport complet en français sera fourni sur demande.

To request a full copy of this report, please contact Library and Archives Canada at:
613-996-5115 or 1-866-578-7777 or www.collectionscanada.ca

Media Enquiries:
Media Relations
Canada Revenue Agency
4th Floor 555 MacKenzie Avenue
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5
media.relations@cra-arc.gc.ca

Executive Summary

Research purpose and objectives

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is responsible for administering taxation laws for the Government of Canada. The Agency undertakes research on a regular basis to measure Canadians' experiences and satisfaction with the services and programs that the CRA provides. Since 2000, the CRA has been conducting an annual survey with national representative samples of Canadians to assess attitudes towards the Agency and satisfaction with aspects of specific programs. In 2005, the CRA redesigned the annual survey to focus on corporate-wide issues and established a new baseline for measuring the Agency's performance over the subsequent five-year period (2005 to 2009). The CRA is currently designing the survey to be used in the coming years. In the interim, a shorter version of the Annual Corporate Survey was fielded in 2010. This study will allow the CRA to maintain its momentum in gathering:

• High level indicators about the environment within which it operates;
• Data which can be used in the support of corporate initiatives such as Branding and Strategic Planning; and
• Data for required Agency reporting, such as the Management Accountability Framework (MAF), Board of Management Oversight Framework (BoMOF), the annual report to Parliament, etc.

Methodology

The Agency's 2010 Annual Corporate Survey was conducted by Environics Research Group. The survey consisted of telephone interviews conducted June 7 to June 21, 2010, with 2,002 Canadians. The questionnaire was an abbreviated version of that used in 2009. The sample was stratified to provide meaningful results in each of six regional jurisdictions. A national sample of this size will provide results accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points in 19 out of 20 samples (larger margins of error apply for subgroups of this population). A more detailed descrip­tion of the methodology used to conduct this survey is presented at the back of the full report, along with a copy of the questionnaire (see Appendix).

The cost of this research was at $79,559.92 (GST/HST included).

Key findings

The Canada Revenue Agency is successfully maintaining a generally positive public image among Canadians, both in terms of overall perception and, more specifically, the taxpayer services it offers. Four in ten Canadians consistently rate the Agency's overall performance as "excellent or good," and a further four in ten say it is acceptable. The CRA is widely considered to meet or exceed the expect­a­tions of professionalism and confidentiality that Canadians expect. The 2010 research suggests that unprompted familiarity with the Agency's name may have peaked, given that seven in ten get help to file their income taxes and thus may not access its services directly.

Canadians continue to largely agree that the Agency is operating in a manner that reflects its core values. Strong majorities agree at least somewhat the CRA treats taxpayer information with confidentiality, and taxpayers with respect and fairness; that its staff are professional, and that the Agency can be trusted to do what is right and operates efficiently. The extent to which the CRA is perceived as reflecting its key corporate standards has proven during annual tracking to be an important driver of overall attitudes about the Agency.

Overall satisfaction with a recent service contact and complete satisfaction with key service aspects has remained strong year over year. This is important, because level of satisfaction with service is linked to overall approval of the Agency's performance, and ratings of the CRA and its service are in turn linked to more general perceptions about taxation and about the federal government as a whole. The Agency is widely thought to treat taxpayers fairly, and its staff is believed to be knowledgeable and competent; access to service is also perceived as easy. Eight in ten Canadians who required service from the CRA in the previous year report say they got what they needed from that contact. Main­taining a high success rate in service contacts is vital to continuing the Agency's solid reputation as a competent and professional organization.

National attitudes regarding taxation and tax evasion have also remained steady since 2009. Four in ten Canadians think that Canadians are taxed at an appropriate level relative to the services received from governments. Consistently, around three in ten Canadians feel that significantly too much is paid in taxes, and a similar proportion believe we pay somewhat too much. A majority think it is at least somewhat likely that tax cheaters will be caught, and a plurality think the CRA is putting in the right amount of effort to do so. Half think that tax cheating has neither increased nor decreased in recent years, although many believe that people will hide income to avoid taxes. There is wide recognition that tax evasion limits the amount the government can spend on essential services.

Date modified:

2010-12-22