New Secure Online Services for Business Study

Prepared for the:
Canada Revenue Agency
June 2012
Contract Number: 46558-135902/001/CY
Contract Award Date: 2012-03-19
Project Cost: $64,613.31 (includes HST)
POR Number: POR 083-11

Prepared by:
Phoenix SPI

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

Executive Summary

Phoenix SPI was commissioned by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to undertake qualitative research to solicit opinions and attitudes towards two potential new secure CRA online services for business. One service would allow electronic submission of documents/receipts to the agency and the other would provide electronic delivery of a notification to view CRA correspondence online. Results will be used by CRA to:

• Prioritize and customize its electronic offerings to meet the needs of businesses.
• Understand the extent to which the target groups want to interact with the CRA electronically, and identify the enablers and obstacles to the uptake of e-services.
• Assist in the development of an agency-wide solution for electronic receipt of documents and delivery of correspondence.
• Design and market the CRA Web site and electronic services and, in turn, lead to easier access to and an increased take up rate of CRA electronic services.

The target audiences for this research included the following:

• Business owners who deal with the CRA directly using My Business Account or through a representative using the Represent a Client (RaC) portal, or are not registered with the CRA in either portal.
• Internal representatives of business managing the tax affairs of the company they work for, and accessing the company’s tax affairs using the CRA’s Represent a Client portal.
• Third-party service providers who provide external tax services and access their business clients’ tax information and perform transactions on their behalf using the CRA’s Represent a Client portal.

A set of eight focus groups was conducted May 22-24, 2012 in three locations, with four groups in Toronto, and two in each of Montreal (French) and Calgary. There were dedicated groups for each audience: two groups were conducted with business owners, two with internal representatives of businesses, and four with service providers. In order to compensate for lower turnout in a group with internal representatives of business in Calgary, two in-depth telephone interviews were conducted with people that had been recruited for that focus group, but who were unable to attend. The telephone interviews were conducted June 8th to 13th, 2012.

This research was qualitative in nature, not quantitative. As such, the results provide an indication of participants’ views about the issues explored, but cannot be generalized to the full population of any of the audiences included in this research.

Contextual Issues

Just under half of the business owners included in this study said they personally use the CRA’s My Business Account portal. Services used within the portal by participants are relatively limited, with the only frequently identified one being filing of GST/HST returns. Most business owner participants who do not personally use My Business Account said they have an outside service provider who conducts at least some of their business affairs with the CRA on their behalf. Some do this through the Represent a Client portal, while others do not.

Internal representatives (i.e. company employees) and external representatives (i.e. third-party service providers) included in this research deal with the CRA on behalf of their firm or their SME clients using the CRA’s Represent a Client portal. That being said, external representatives were much more likely to be frequent users of the services within that portal, with most saying they use it daily. Most representatives said they have ‘level 2’ authorization, which allows them to view and make changes to account information.

Current Processes and Procedures for Handling Correspondence with the CRA

Existing processes in place for handling correspondence from the CRA tend to be the same regardless of the type of correspondence. Most owners and internal representatives identified the owner of the company as the initial recipient of such mail. Beyond this, however, specific processes vary from company to company. Service providers typically deal with mail from the CRA to their business clients in a variety of ways, including telephone, email, fax, scanned copies sent by email, regular mail, and in person delivery. The key factor determining how they handle their business clients’ correspondence is typically client preference.

Participants’ use of My Business Account or Represent a Client to view items of CRA correspondence is limited, with most members of each target audience saying that they do not do this. Most members in each target audience said they have never or rarely had to send documents or information to the CRA in response to a request from the agency, and to date, no one has needed to submit documents to the CRA online.

Current Storage Practices for CRA-Related Materials

Practices in placefor storing CRA-related materials tend to vary by company, not by the type of document. These practices range from paper-only storage, to a mix of paper-based and electronic storage, to fully electronic storage. Those who use electronic storage routinely described it as more efficient, more cost-effective, and the way of the future. Reasons routinely given to explain paper-based storage included a desire to retain the original paper copies of CRA documents, aversion to electronic storage for reasons of security, the fact that most CRA materials are still received in paper format, and the cost and time required to convert paper-based correspondence to electronic format. While most participants said their company scans receipts, the extent of the practice varies. By a wide margin, however, PDF is the standard file format in which receipts and documents are stored electronically.

Reactions to General Concepts of Proposed New Electronic Services

Participants’ reaction to the idea or concept of the proposed new services (i.e. electronic submission of documents/receipts to the agency and electronic viewing of correspondence) was similar across the groups. Specifically,

• Overall reaction to both services was mixed. Most expressed at least some degree of interest in them, some were indifferent or neutral, and some said they had little or no interest in using them. Moreover, positive reaction to both services was highest among external service providers and internal representatives of businesses, while business owners were most likely to have mixed reactions.
• Whatever their degree of interest in these services, it did not tend to vary by type of correspondence or type of document. If participants expressed interest in these services they were typically interested in using them in a general way (i.e. to view all types of correspondence from the CRA and to send all types of documents to the CRA). Conversely, if they were not interested in them, this lack of interest typically applied to all types of correspondence and all types of documents.
• The most frequently identified benefits or advantages of each service, as well as the most frequently identified concerns were the same across the participant groups. The main perceived advantages of both were increased efficiency in managing correspondence from the CRA, reduced costs, and elimination/reduction of paper. The main concerns regarding each were potential technical problems and security-related issues. In the case of viewing correspondence online, two additional concerns identified relatively frequently included fear that correspondence received only online from the CRA might be missed or ignored, and questions about how the CRA would alert owners and/or service providers that they have correspondence available to view. In the case of sending documents to the CRA online, an additional concern identified relatively frequently was whether the CRA will consider scanned documents as original versions or not.
• Participants identified the same caveats or conditions to qualify their interest in these services. Specifically, the service would have to be user-friendly, secure, and effective (i.e. no technical problems).

Reactions to Descriptions of Proposed New Electronic Services (i.e. how they would work)

Overall reaction to the descriptions of the proposed new services tended to be positive. Based on their review of how each service would work, participants felt that both appear to be useful and user-friendly. Most said they think they would use both services, primarily because they would make dealing with the CRA more efficient and cost-effective. That being said, they routinely re-iterated that they would do so if the services were user-friendly, secure, and effective.

Most participants also liked the idea that the CRA could phase-in these services gradually, and many added that this would influence their decision to use these services. It is important to note that support for a phased-in approach was specifically related to viewing CRA correspondence online, namely the ability to continue receiving correspondence by mail for a certain period of time. Owners were particularly emphatic about this.

Suppression of Paper

Most participants said they would opt to suppress the paper copy of correspondence currently received from the CRA, but owners were likely to add that they would prefer to do this over time or gradually. Interestingly, most internal representatives and external service providers also indicated that the owners of their business (in the case of internal representatives) or their clients (in the case of external service providers) might authorize them to do this, but only gradually. Moreover, many added that owners would need some encouragement to do so, with the most frequently identified form of encouragement being a transition period during which they could opt to continue to receive correspondence by mail.

Most participants said they have no concerns about the CRA electronically storing documents that have been submitted by businesses. However, some added that they have no concerns as long as the CRA assumes full responsibility for these documents and others wondered how long they would be available to view online, or otherwise retrieve them.

Description of Online Services

When it came to suggestions for describing the new online services proposed by the CRA, the only one made with any frequency was that the names and/or descriptions should include or make reference to the term ‘secure’. Suggested names for the service allowing one to send documents online to the CRA included e-docs, send documents, electronic transfer of documents and envoi de documents. Suggested names for the service allowing one to view correspondence from CRA online included e-view, e-notification, e-receipt, e-post, ARC en ligne, and message de l’ARC.

Conclusions and Implications

To date, most participants in this study have not viewed any CRA correspondence online, and very few have submitted documents to the CRA electronically. Nevertheless, the findings from this research indicate that most participants would be interested in interacting with the CRA through the two new services the agency is proposing, namely electronic submission of documents requested by the agency and notification to view CRA correspondence online. Increased speed and efficiency in dealing with the CRA stand out as the main perceived benefits of both services, and therefore the main reasons for adopting them.

However, participants were also clear that their interest in these services is conditional and based on the following: that the services be user-friendly (both in terms of accessibility and functionality), secure, and reliable (i.e. absence of technical problems). Therefore, user-friendliness, security, and reliability are key enablers to uptake of both services, while shortcomings or deficiencies in any of these areas would constitute serious obstacles to their uptake. It is worth noting in this regard that when participants were asked for their opinion on how to describe the new online services, the only suggestion made with any frequency was that the names of the services or their descriptions include the term ‘secure’.

The review of the basic aspects of each service gave participants the impression that they would be user-friendly. As to their concerns over security and potential technical problems regarding both services, these were mitigated to a certain extent by the proposed phasing-in of the services. Indeed, the idea of a phased-in approach resonated positively with participants, primarily as a way of addressing their concerns over the security and reliability of the services. These were seen as concerns that could only be assuaged after the services were rolled out.

Consequently, a phased-in approach was generally welcomed as a test period during which these services could prove themselves as safe and reliable. Indeed, many said that this approach would influence their decision to use these services (or authorize their use, in the case of owners). In other words, a gradual approach to introducing these services is another key enabler to their uptake of both. However, it is important to note that support for a phased-in approach was specifically related to viewing CRA correspondence online, namely the ability to choose to continue receiving correspondence by mail for a certain period of time. Owners were particularly emphatic about this as a strategy likely to influence their use of this service or granting of authorization to use it.

Two benefits were associated with such an approach. First, it would give the new service sufficient time to ‘prove’ itself to be safe and reliable. Second, it would provide enough time for them to determine whether the new service makes things easier or more difficult in terms of dealing with CRA correspondence.

Interest in both services was higher among external service providers and internal representatives of businesses, while owners of SMEs were more likely to have mixed reactions (i.e. some interested, some neutral, and some not interested). However, since only owners have legal authority to authorize use of these new services, their apprehensions regarding these services represents a key challenge. In the case of viewing CRA correspondence online, the most frequently-identified way of encouraging owners to use or authorize use of the service was the aforementioned transition period during which they could continue to receive CRA correspondence by mail.

Other forms of encouragement include the following:

• Proof or evidence that the system for viewing online correspondence is reliable and secure.
• Proof or evidence that the system is easy to use.
• Proof or evidence that the system saves time and money.
• Clear information about the system and how it works, including FAQs, tutorials, etc.
• Simplification of the process for authorizing representatives to use the Represent a Client portal.
• Simplification of the process for registering to use the Represent a Client portal.

Findings from this research also revealed that participants tended to take an ‘all or nothing’ approach in their attitudes towards the proposed new services. Specifically, their interest was not expressed in half-measures. If they were interested in a service they were interested in using it in a comprehensive way (i.e. to view all types of correspondence from the CRA or for sending all types of documents to the CRA). Similarly, if they were not interested in a service, they were not interested in using it in any way (i.e. no interest in viewing any type of correspondence from the CRA or sending any type of document to the CRA). Related to this, it is worth noting that if participants were interested in one service, they were also interested in the other. Conversely, if they were not interested in one, they were usually not interested in the other either.

The CRA may want to take this basic attitude towards adoption of the new e-services into consideration when deciding how to market them, as it suggests that when potential users consider these services, they tend to think of the basic idea or concept underlying the service (e.g. electronic transmission of CRA documents), not selective applications of the service (e.g. electronic transmission of CRA document X or Y).

Date modified:

2012-11-27