Caller accessibility – A measure of the percentage of callers who succeed in accessing our telephone service.

Cancellation – The reversal of a penalty or interest that has already been assessed.

Cash receipts – Money received by the CRA or its agents during the fiscal year ended March 31, the majority of which is deposited to the federal government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund. Any money not yet deposited is referred to as ‘cash on hand’.

Change rate – The Change Rate is a ratio of the number of audits which result in changes in taxes payable to the total audits, expressed as a percentage. A change means that current or future taxes are or will be reassessed or denied.

Commodity taxes – Federal tax collected on the purchase of goods or services made by the final consumer.

Compliance – Adherence to the law. Total compliance with tax laws includes filing, registration, remittance, and reporting for taxes and benefits in a voluntary, accurate, and timely manner.

Contract payment reporting – An initiative that is aimed at deterring underground economic activity by requiring all construction businesses to record payments that are made to subcontractors who provide construction services.

Corporate business plan – Outlines the CRA’s major challenges, directions, and objectives for a three-year period; the strategies to achieve those objectives; and the performance measures to be used to measure progress.

Dispute – General term to designate a disagreement, objection, or appeal to the Minister of National Revenue (for Canada Pension Plan or Employment Insurance rulings or (re)assessments) made by or on behalf of a taxpayer or benefit recipient, related to a CRA decision.

Disputes resolved – Refers to Appeals disputes for which an impartial administrative review has been completed.

Eligible taxpayer/benefit recipient – One who meets the requirements to qualify to receive a specific service or payment/credit.

Enforcement – Actions taken by the CRA to identify and address cases of non-compliance.

Entitlement – The amount due an eligible person for a specific period.

Expected results – Clear and measurable statements of what the CRA expects to achieve over the planning period, against which our performance will be assessed and reported.

Fiscal impact – Additional tax identified through our compliance activities. This includes federal and provincial tax (excluding Quebec), federal tax refund offset or reduced, interest and penalties; and present value of future tax assessable.

Full-time equivalent – A unit measuring a length of time for employment cost purposes in an operating budget. It includes incidental time necessarily used for annual leave, training, etc.

Government programs debt (non-tax debt) – Debt arising from programs administered by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, such as defaulted Canada Student Loans, Canada Pension Plan overpayments, and Employment Insurance overpayments that the CRA is responsible for collecting on behalf of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

Governance – A comprehensive term that denotes the institutions and processes by which an organization is directed or controlled.

Indicator – The qualification or quantification of a characteristic that is measured to assess the extent to which an expected result is achieved. It is a means of knowing whether or not we have achieved a desired result.

Non-workable file – A file that is awaiting a court decision, a related file that is pending, a file that is awaiting an opinion from a Headquarters appeals office, or (with respect to CPP/EI and tax issues) a file that has been referred to a specialized CPP/EI group for an opinion.

Performance – A term used to define what the CRA did with its resources to achieve its results compared to what the CRA intended to achieve.

Resolved – The Canada Revenue Agency considers tax and non-tax debt to be resolved once payment has been received or if the CRA writes-off the debt.

Risk – The expression of the likelihood of an event to occur that has the potential to impact the achievement of an organization’s objectives. Risk is managed by using a systematic approach to setting the best course of action under uncertainty by identifying, assessing, understanding, acting on, and communicating risk issues.

Service standard – A public statement of the level of performance that citizens can expect to encounter from the CRA under normal circumstances.

Set-off – A service provided by the CRA that allows tax refunds and GST/HST credits for individuals to be transferred (set off) to pay debts owed to other federal, provincial, or territorial government programs.

Small and medium-sized enterprises – Small Enterprises: Individuals who are in business, trusts, and private corporations with less than $1 million in annual revenues.

Medium Enterprises – corporations with annual revenues between $1 million and $250 million and often involve subsidiary corporations and branch operations.

Strategic outcome – A description of the difference an organization is mandated to make that provides long-term benefits to Canadians.

T1 – Income Tax and Benefit Return for Individual

T2 – Corporation Income Tax Return

T3 – Trust Return

T4 – Statement of Remuneration Paid

T5 – Return of Investment Income

Tax alert – A tax alert is a media product used by the CRA when it wishes to communicate matters of particular importance to Canadians that are normally time-sensitive and aimed at protecting their interest and providing important information that could directly affect them. This may include information on tax shelters, investments, tax strategies, and fraud that targets taxpayers.

Tax debt – Taxes and other revenues assessed or estimated by the CRA but not yet collected.

Tax-free savings account for individuals – Since January 1, 2009, Canadian residents who are 18 years of age or older with a valid Social insurance number are eligible to contribute up to $5,000 annually to a Tax-Free Savings Account.

Taxpayer relief provisions – Legislation introduced in the early 1990s that provides relief (e.g., forgiveness of interest and penalties) to taxpayers in specific circumstances beyond their control.

Taxpayer segments – Groups of taxpayers who have common compliance requirements and characteristics, service needs, preferences for accessing information or services, or expectations of the CRA, such as individuals; small, medium, and large businesses, both incorporated and unincorporated; and charities.

Tax shelter – Tax shelters are defined in the Income Tax Act. In very general terms, a tax shelter includes either a gifting arrangement or the acquisition of property where it is represented to the purchaser or donor that the tax benefits and deductions arising from the arrangement or acquisition will equal or exceed the net costs of entering into the arrangement or the property. Also, a gifting arrangement where the donor incurs a limited recourse debt related to the gift is considered to be a tax shelter. Generally, a limited recourse debt is one where the borrower is not at risk for the repayment.

Underground economy – Economic activity that is neither reported nor recorded.

Visit – A series of actions that begin when a visitor views their first page and end when they leave the site, or after 30 minutes of inactivity.

Voluntary disclosures program – A program that provides taxpayers with the opportunity to correct past errors or omissions and to report, without penalty or prosecution, their tax obligations to the CRA.

Waiver – When penalties or interest have not yet been charged, the decision not to charge the amount, either at the taxpayer’s request or by the CRA’s own initiative.