Strengthening Communication of Taxpayer Fairness - 2010 Federal Budget Consultations

Prepared for the:
Canada Revenue Agency
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REPORT
December 2010
Contract No: 46558-110374/001/CY
Contract Date: 2010-09-03
POR No: 033-10

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For further information:
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Canada Revenue Agency
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media.relations@cra-arc.gc.ca

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For more information please contact:
Norman Baillie-David, CMRP
Vice President
Corporate Director, Public Opinion Research
TNS Canadian Facts
Phone (613) 230-4408 x101
Email Norman.baillie-david@tnsglobal.com
Web www.tnsglobal.com

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1-1 Background, Approach and Methodology

In 2007, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) introduced a comprehensive Taxpayer Bill of Rights and, in 2008, a Taxpayers' Ombudsman was appointed. These measures built upon existing service standards, recourse and complaint resolution processes and taxpayer relief provisions, all of which are in place at the CRA. The purpose of this study is to identify ways in which the existing programs and instruments noted above, which are intended to advance taxpayer rights and promote fairness, can be better communicated and made more accessible and transparent.

The specific objectives of this research are to determine: the level of awareness regarding taxpayer fairness mechanisms, specifically the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, Service Complaints, and Taxpayer Relief Provisions; and, ways in which CRA can raise and improve the level of awareness and better communicate the mechanisms available that address taxpayer fairness.

This study involved consultations with both internal and external CRA stakeholders, as well as the general public. Two focus groups with front line call centre staff (internal stakeholders) in Toronto and Montreal and executive interviews with five organizations[Footnote 1] representing external stakeholders were conducted. Input from the public was obtained through a national online panel survey involving over 1,000 respondents.

1-2 Key Findings

Internal Stakeholder Perspective

There was broad agreement among call centre agents in both Montreal and Toronto that taxpayers, in general, have little to no knowledge of the fairness mechanisms and relief provisions offered by the CRA. Also, overall awareness of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights and the Ombudsman's Office is very low.

Although awareness among the public may be low, call centre agents believe the website information on taxpayer fairness and relief provisions is clear and in sufficient detail, although relatively difficult to find off the CRA main page. In instances where it is appropriate, call centre agents refer callers to the CRA website as a reference tool. For callers who are not Internet enabled/savvy, agents will provide them with a publications reference number, which allows the taxpayer to locate and order the appropriate document.

Several suggestions on how to communicate taxpayer relief measures to taxpayers were provided, including:

• Ensure taxpayer relief and fairness mechanisms are clearly presented in the Tax Guide.
• Provide an insert with the tax assessment referring taxpayers to relief and fairness provisions on the website.
• Hold business seminars (or include taxpayer relief and fairness provisions in existing seminars) with professional organizations such as accountants and lawyers.
• Provide a message about taxpayer relief (e.g. what qualifies as such) on the IVR system when callers are on hold waiting to speak to a call centre agent.
• Have a "Penalties and Interest" link on the CRA website home page that links to the taxpayer relief web page.
• Include a link to the taxpayer relief web page on the "My Business Account" (for businesses) and "My Account" (for T1) user accounts.
• Cover taxpayer relief measures in seminars given by the CRA.

External Stakeholder Perspective

With the exceptions of the Ombudsman's office, and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), the external stakeholders consulted have had very little to no interaction with their respective membership on issues of taxpayer fairness, since they do not get involved with their members' individual tax issues or complaints. All of the external stakeholders believed that taxpayers (public) do not have any significant awareness or knowledge of the taxpayer fairness mechanisms. There are exceptions such as large companies and tax and accounting professionals. One common issue identified across external stakeholders is confusion over the term taxpayer fairness mechanisms. Specifically many stated confusion exists in relation to service quality and service complaints, with the right of appeal and the appeals process for tax assessments, penalties and interest.

As with the internal stakeholders, external stakeholders felt that the taxpayer fairness documentation available on the CRA website was clear and understandable; although not easy to find. Despite low levels of awareness and knowledge of taxpayer fairness mechanisms, many external stakeholders questioned the logic of communicating taxpayer fairness mechanisms more broadly. This being said, some stakeholders had the view that there will be a benefit to all if CRA communicates the taxpayer fairness measures more broadly. Several suggestions for promoting taxpayer fairness mechanisms were provided ranging from raising awareness among the professional cadre of accountants, lawyers, etc. to providing information on taxpayer relief mechanisms when issuing penalty statements.

Taxpayer (Public) Perspective

Overall awareness of CRA's taxpayers' fairness mechanisms is low, ranging from only 12% for the Bill of Rights to 18% for the Taxpayers' Ombudsman and 23% for Taxpayer Relief Provisions. For the most part, the younger the respondent the less aware they are of the mechanisms. Men were also more likely to say they were aware of each mechanism than women. Not only is awareness of the Taxpayer Fairness Mechanisms low, only a small minority claimed to have a good or complete understanding of the mechanisms (20% to 34%).

Respondents who are aware of CRA's Taxpayer Fairness Mechanisms first became aware through various different channels. For the Taxpayer Relief Provisions, Taxpayer Bill of Rights and the Service Complaint Resolution Process each mechanism displays a fairly similar proportion of how respondents first became aware of them. These respondents first became aware through either the CRA website (27%, 36% and 36% respectively) or from a friend or colleague (20%, 16%, and 23%). Only about one-in-ten (9%, 8%, and 7%) first became aware through a CRA publication such as a brochure or pamphlet. One-in-five respondents first became aware of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman through advertising (20%) or the CRA website (19%), while over one-in-ten became aware of the Ombudsman from a friend or colleague (12%), which is similar to the proportion who became aware from a non-CRA publication.

For the majority of respondents, when seeking information about CRA and its programs their first course of action is to either visit the CRA website (66%), followed by calling the CRA (18%).

The cost of this research was $50,332.36 (HST included).

Date modified:

2011-05-13