Section 3 – Introduction to the CRA

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Section 3 – Introduction to the CRA

SERVICE TO CANADIANS

OVERVIEW

  • In Canada's self-assessment tax system, providing service excellence is one of the best and most effective ways to sustain high rates of voluntary compliance and ensure clients receive the entitlements they are due.
  • The CRA provides up-to-date information through a variety of service channels to ensure Canadians have easy access to clear, timely, and accurate tax and benefit information.
  • Over the last several years the CRA has improved the service experience of most clients and the efficiency of our service delivery by delivering a number of new e-enabled self-service options. These e-services are supported by traditional telephone service delivery and offer clients the convenience of accessing CRA information and services in a way that works best for them.

PROCESS TAX RETURNS

The CRA is one of the largest service organizations in Canada. Last year, the Agency touched the lives of 31 million individual and corporate clients and issued benefit and credit payments to nearly 12 million recipients. Canadians can electronically file their tax returns with the CRA and a growing number of individuals and businesses take advantage of this key e-Service.

Process Tax Returns
Results for 2014-2015 Service Standards Challenges

Individuals (T1)

  • 28.8M (82% electronic)

Corporations (T2)

  • 2.2M (86% electronic)

Goods & Services / Harmonized Sales Tax

  • 7.6M (79% electronic)

Trust (T3)

  • 261,000 (paper only)
 Processing individual tax returns
  • Target is to process an electronic T1 return (EFILE and NETFILE) within an average of two weeks of receipt; paper in average of four to six weeks
  • With Direct Deposit, many Canadians receive their refunds within 8 days

Processing corporation tax returns

  • Target of 90% of electronic returns processed within 45 calendar days of receipt and 90 days for paper returns

Processing GST/HST returns

  • Target of 95% of returns processed within 30 calendar days of receipt
  • Continue drive to e (filing, services)
  • Enhance operational efficiency
Administer benefits and credits
Results for 2014-2015 Challenges
  • Issued 116M benefit and credit payments totaling almost $22B to 12M Canadians
  • Federal benefits and credits include the Canada Child Tax Benefit, Universal Child Care Benefit, GST/HST Credit, Working Income Tax Benefit and the Disability Tax Credit
  • Administer 28 benefit and credit programs on behalf of provinces/territories
  • Provide electronic income verification service in support of 56 federal/provincial/territorial programs
  • 94% of new births in provinces using the CRA's Automated Benefit Application (ABA) service are automatically enrolled for child benefits administered by CRA
  • Replace Universal Child Care Benefit, National Child Benefit Supplement and Canada Child Tax Benefit with the new Canada Child Benefit
  • Develop better marketing and use of technology to communicate to Canadians about the Disability Tax Credit; and ensure regulations for the Disability Tax Credit Promoters Restrictions Act are effective

E-SERVICES

E-Services
Secure Online Portals Canada.ca Mobile Apps Payments

My Account (individuals)

  • Users can view their Notice of Assessment, track their refund, view or request adjustments to their tax return, check benefit and credit payments and RRSP limits, sign up for direct deposit, receive online mail, and more.

My Business Account (businesses)

  • Allows business clients to access multiple services for their GST/HST, payroll, corporation income taxes, excise tax, excise duties, and other levies accounts.

Represent a Client (representatives)

  • Authorized representatives can access an account on behalf of someone else, such as their employer or their client(s).
  • CRA website is often the first point of contact for Canadians looking for answers to their tax-related questions.
  • Our content is viewed more than 100M times a year.
  • The better organized our content is, the more issues Canadians can resolve themselves, and the less likely they are to call the Agency.
  • CRA web content is being streamlined and consolidated under Canada.ca
  • My CRA - is a mobile app for individuals and can be used to view information such as a Notice of Assessment, tax return status, and RRSP and TFSA contribution room. New features in 2016 will allow people to undertake the most popular My Account transactions.
  • Business Tax Reminders - is an app for business clients that can be used to create custom reminder alerts for due dates related to instalment payments, returns, and remittances.
  • CRA provides Canadians and businesses a wide range of electronic payment options, including:
  • Online banking
  • Credit and Debit card – Interac® Online
  • Pre-authorized debit and Third-party service providers.
    • 74% of payments made to the CRA are electronic
    • 68% of payments to Canadians are Direct Deposit.

MANAGE CALL CENTRES

Manage Call centres
Results for 2014-2015 Challenges
  • CRA Telephone Enquiries answered over 23.5M last year:
    • Individual Income Tax enquiries: 11.8 M
    • Benefits enquiries (CCTB and GSTC): 6 M
    • Business enquiries: 4.2 M
    • e-Services helpdesk (Individual and Business): 1.1 M
  • Demand exceeds capacity (busy signals) - 80% accessibility standard
  • Perception of quality
  • Old technology

CORRESPONDENCE

The CRA sends out approximately 130 million pieces of correspondence each year, comprised of approximately 430 specific letter or notice types including:.

  • T1 Notices of Assessment and Reassessment (28.7 M and 4.5 M respectfully)
  • Employer-related correspondence (13 M)
  • Goods and Services Tax Credit (GSTC) Notices and Cheques (7.8 M and 4 M respectfully)
  • Corporation Notice of Assessment (2.1 M)
Challenges
  • The CRA conducted a review of its correspondence, which identified specific problems with:
    • Lack of clarity, readability, and understandability
    • Inconsistency in messaging and appearance
    • Did not fully meet the commitment reflected in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights
  • Through CRA's External Administrative Correspondence (EAC) Project, our correspondence is being improved in the areas of:
    • Structure, layering and format
    • Plain language and tone
    • Content flow

OUTREACH

CRA conducts outreach to specific taxpayer segments to support voluntary compliance by providing proactive support to target groups such as students, seniors, aboriginals, persons with disabilities, newcomers to Canada, and low income earners.

The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP)

The CVITP is a CRA-sponsored, community-based outreach program that helps eligible individuals meet their filing obligations or apply for benefits and tax credits.

Volunteers work with members of local community organizations to help taxpayers who need extra help to file their returns and access their entitlements.

In 2014-2015, the CRA worked with over 2,000 community organizations and 17,000 CVITP volunteers to help file over 600,000 tax returns.

Liaison Officer Initiative (LOI)

In recent years the Agency has placed a greater focus on providing proactive compliance support for small businesses to help them navigate the tax system and reduce unintentional errors.

The program provides in‐person support to businesses at key points as their business grows and helps make sure they "get it right from the start."

IMPROVING SERVICES – MAJOR INITIATIVES

  • Plain language correspondence that is easy to read.
  • Support Canadians to ensure they receive benefits they are entitled to.
Date modified:
2016-03-08