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2008-09
Departmental Performance Report
Canada Revenue Agency
The original version was signed by
The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, P.C., M.P.
Minister of National Revenue
Table of Contents
Section I: Agency Overview
Message from the Minister
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
makes a difference in the lives of Canadians every day. We do this by providing a strong, equitable, and responsive tax
system that has become the cornerstone of our country’s prosperity and the foundation of our social structure.
This year, the CRA celebrates
10 years as a government agency, a period marked by innovation and continuous improvement in services to Canadians and businesses.
I am proud of the tremendous collaboration demonstrated by the
CRA and Finance Canada, who together worked with financial institutions
across the country on the recent launch of the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA),
the most important tax innovation in a generation.
We are providing excellence in program delivery by working to ensure that Canadians
pay their fair share of taxes on behalf of federal, provincial, and territorial governments. In particular, our compliance
work includes actions to counter aggressive tax planning, that is, arrangements that cross the boundary of acceptable tax
planning.
The CRA is working to encourage
Canadian business and the Canadian economy. We are reducing the paperwork burden that impacts business profitability and
productivity. This is an important effort, especially in these difficult economic times.
“Together, we are ensuring that Canadians enjoy a flexible and innovative
tax regime that is accessible, equitable to taxpayers, and keeps our business solidly competitive in the global marketplace.”
As the administrator of the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) investment tax credit, which is considered one
of the best incentives for research and development in the world, the CRA
is contributing to Canada’s international business competitiveness. In addition to providing more than $4 billion in tax
credits to over 18,000 claimants, we are strengthening our administrative resources to increase
SR&ED accessibility to more Canadian businesses.
The steps we are taking to assist individual Canadians and businesses will help
maintain the high level of confidence that Canadians have in the CRA. As
we move into our second decade as an agency, we will continue to improve our services and respond to the diverse needs of
taxpayers and benefit recipients.
It is my privilege and honour to present the Departmental Performance Report
2008-2009 for the Canada Revenue Agency.
The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, P.C.,
M.P.
Minister of National Revenue and
Minister of State (Agriculture and Agri-Food)
Message from the Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
As the Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), I take pride in being a part of such an outstanding public service organization
as it celebrates its tenth anniversary. Looking back, I am inspired by how far we have come and how much we have accomplished
during the past decade. We embarked on a program of change to inject fresh ideas into the way we operate and provide service
to Canadians. Even though we have been recognized for our innovation and our commitment to service excellence, we know that
we cannot simply rely on our past achievements—we can always do better.
Achieving Our Vision
Our vision is to be the model for trusted tax and benefit administration, providing
unparalleled service and value to our clients and offering our employees outstanding career opportunities.
“The Canada Revenue Agency is one of the largest service organizations
in the country. We do business with more Canadians than any other department or agency of government.”
To achieve our vision, we have pursued two overarching objectives—excellence in
program delivery and excellence in the workplace. In terms of excellence in program delivery, we met or exceeded many of
our targets. For example, we made it easier for callers to reach us through our telephone service; we worked in close partnership
with our provincial counterparts in Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec to recover more than half a billion dollars in taxes from
unacceptable aggressive tax planning arrangements that crossed provincial boundaries; we expanded electronic options for
business users to include GST/HST
NETFILE; and we again achieved very strong results related to the delivery of benefit programs.
In terms of the second overarching objective—excellence in the workplace—we have
developed and acted upon the first iteration of our Agency Workforce Plan, which fully integrated human resources and business
planning. Several initiatives have been acted upon to address challenges identified in the plan. On March 31, 2009, the
second iteration of our Agency Workforce Plan (2009-2010 to 2011-2012) was published, aligned with our Corporate Business
Plan, which covered the same period.
Overall, our 2008-2009 results related to the administration of tax and benefit
programs remain strong. Most taxpayers met the deadline for filing their returns and for paying amounts owing, and most
taxable corporations paid amounts due on time.
We need to ensure, however, that more taxable corporations file their returns
on time, and that more employers remit source deductions on behalf of employees on time. Taking all these results into consideration,
I remain confident that we can overcome the challenges in key high-risk areas over the long term with a view to achieving
our vision.
Progress on Priorities
We have in place an ambitious change agenda to respond to the many challenges
we face. During 2008-2009, we made important progress in our commitment to excellence, including the following.
Strengthening service – In December 2008, we launched our comprehensive
Service Strategy. This strategy is the result of extensive collaboration with internal stakeholders across the country,
with the common objective of working in an integrated and horizontal fashion to develop and deliver our products and services.
Enhancing our efforts to address non-compliance – We conducted
our second compliance review this past year. Similar to our first review, this compliance review process resulted in identifying
five key high-risk priority areas: aggressive tax planning, the underground economy, payment compliance, wilful non-compliance,
and contraband tobacco. As well, we undertook further work to implement our Benefits Compliance Strategy Action Plan by
researching and analyzing enforcement and deterrence issues in an effort to understand and evaluate the benefits and credits
at risk.
Reinforcing trust – Our service complaints framework has recently
made redress more comprehensive. This framework has, at its foundation, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights which has been expanded
to include eight service rights. Furthermore, we implemented our Service Complaints Program, to provide taxpayers with a
formal resolution process for complaints about mistakes, undue delays, and other issues related to service.
“No longer are we just the federal government’s tax collector—we have
become a broad-based tax and benefit administration providing services and support to a wide range of public sector
clients.”
Maintaining effective relationships – The strength of our collaborative
efforts was demonstrated most recently in the successful conclusion of the Memorandum of Agreement for the harmonization
of the Ontario sales tax, the second harmonization initiative that we have undertaken with Ontario. The implementation of
corporate tax administration proceeded as planned—on time and within budget.
Meeting our mandate
The overall goal of the CRA is
to administer tax, benefits, and related programs and to ensure compliance on behalf of governments across Canada, thereby
contributing to the ongoing economic and social well-being of Canadians.
Our employees are known for carrying out their duties with integrity and professionalism.
We are an organization that is highly visible—one that touches the lives of all Canadians—and we are very proud of the excellent
reputation we’ve earned. The fact that we have once again quickly and accurately delivered on government priorities speaks
to the professionalism and dedication of our workforce.
“The CRA
is known as a modern and vibrant organization, with a tradition of innovation and technological change.”
Going forward, we will strive to further our working relationships with federal
departments, provinces, and territories to forge links between the social responsibility inherent in paying taxes and the
civic rights and benefits enjoyed in Canada. We will sustain our strong international presence in organizations such as
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Inter-American Centre of Tax Administration
to advance protocols and practices to guide the work of tax administrations around the world.
We will seek opportunities to reduce the administrative burden and overall cost
of government and we will build on our position as an innovative service leader and a separate employer to create a workplace
culture of intelligent risk management and innovation.
William V. Baker
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
Canada Revenue Agency
Our Raison d’être
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
has the mandate to administer tax, benefit and other programs on behalf of the Government of Canada and provincial, territorial
and First Nations governments.
Parliament created the CRA so
we could meet the mandate by:
- providing better service to Canadians;
- offering more efficient and more effective delivery of government programs;
and
- fostering closer relationships with provinces and other levels of government
for which the CRA delivers programs, and providing better accountability.
The CRA’s mandate reflects the
broad role that the Agency plays in the lives of Canadians. The CRA contributes
to two of the Government of Canada’s Strategic Outcomes: Federal organizations that support all Government of Canada
outcomes and Income Security and Employment for Canadians.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
exercises its mandate within a framework of complex laws enacted by Parliament, as well as by provincial and territorial
legislatures. The CRA collected more than $366 billion in 2008-2009 on
behalf of Canada, the provinces (except Quebec), territories, and First Nations.
Benefit to Canadians
No other public organization touches the lives of more Canadians on a daily basis
than the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Each year we administer billions
of dollars in tax revenue and distribute timely and accurate benefit payments to millions of Canadians. We deliver income-based
benefits, credits, and other services that assist families and children, low and moderate-income households, and persons
with disabilities, programs that contribute directly to the economic and social well-being of Canadians.
Our ability to deliver efficient, timely, and accurate high-volume programs and
services makes us a valuable partner for government clients.
The following two strategic outcomes summarize the
CRA’s contribution to Canadian society.
- Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected;
and
- Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments.
In addition to the administration of income tax and benefit programs, the
CRA administers sales tax for three provinces and verifies taxpayer income
levels in support of a wide variety of federal, provincial, and territorial programs, ranging from student loans to health
care initiatives. We also provide other services, such as the Refund Set-off Program, through which we aid other federal
departments, as well as provincial and territorial governments, in the collection of debts that might otherwise become uncollectible.
This Performance Report assesses the extent to which we achieved these outcomes
during the 2008-2009 fiscal year. On balance, our results show that we met both our strategic outcomes.
Risk Analysis
The purpose of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Program is to ensure that the Agency develops and implements a systematic,
comprehensive approach to managing risks as a management function that is fully integrated into the Agency’s decision-making,
planning and reporting processes and mechanisms.
In support of corporate risk management, the two key
ERM products are the Corporate Risk Inventory (CRI) and the CRA
Risk Action Plan. The CRI presents a strategic, high-level
snapshot of the Agency’s risk status. The Agency’s response to each risk in the
CRI is captured in a companion document, the
CRA Risk Action Plan.
In addition to efforts to align corporate risk information with the Agency’s planning
and resource allocation cycles, the Agency is making strides to embed risk information and commitments in other key products
and processes including the Corporate Business Plan, the Corporate Audit and Evaluation Plan, and the Executive Cadre’s
Accountability Regime.
Rating our Results
We use qualitative and quantitative indicators to determine the results achieved
in terms of our strategic outcomes and expected results. Survey results, statistical sampling, and operational data inform
our assessments. Although we have made progress in developing robust indicators for each of our strategic outcome measures
and expected results, we need to make some of them more concrete and measurable.
We also rate our strategic results and those of our program activities in terms
of whether the targets identified in our 2008-2009 Report on Plans and Priorities were met, mostly met, or not
met.
Our targets identify the percentage or degree we expect to attain for a performance
level. Where targets are numeric in nature, they are listed beside each indicator. Performance targets are established by
our management teams through analysis of affordability constraints, historical performance, the complexity of the work involved,
and the expectations of Canadians.
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Our results met or exceeded our expectations.
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While the results met most of our expectations,
some gaps exist.
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Significant gaps exist in results and most
or key expectations were not met.
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Our Program Activity Architecture
The Program Activity Architecture depicted below, identifies our program activities
(PAs) and demonstrates how they link to our strategic outcomes. This framework
is based on the Management, Resources and Results Structure established by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat on April
1, 2005.
Program activities are groups of related activities that are designed and managed
to meet a specific public need and reflect how we allocate and manage our resources in order to achieve intended results.
Performance Summary
Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
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See individual Program Activities
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See individual Program Activities
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See individual Program Activities
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Strategic Outcome 1: Taxpayers meet their obligations and
Canada’s revenue base is protected
(in thousands of dollars)
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Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
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Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing ( PA2) [Footnote 4]
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Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance ( PA3) [Footnote 5]
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Reporting Compliance ( PA4)
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[Footnote 1] Internal Services (Program Activity
7) has been attributed to the 6 Program Activities under the two strategic outcomes as follows: Taxpayer and Business
Assistance, 9.75%; Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing, 23.83%; Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance
20.74%; Reporting Compliance, 36.99%; Appeals, 3.69% and Benefit Programs, 5%.
[Footnote 2] Internal Services (Program Activity
7) has been attributed to the 6 Program Activities under the two strategic outcomes as follows: Taxpayer and Business
Assistance, 11.47%; Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing, 22.60%; Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance
21.35%; Reporting Compliance, 35.38%; Appeals, 3.46% and Benefit Programs, 5.74%.
[Footnote 3] Starting in 2007-2008, included
in this Program Activity are the Softwood Lumber Statutory Payments ($603.6 million in 2007-2008 and $180.5 million
in 2008-2009).
[Footnote 4] Includes payments to the Ministère
du Revenu du Québec in respect of the joint administration costs of Federal and Provincial sales taxes ($140.7 million
in 2007-2008 and $131.7million in 2008-2009).
[Footnote 5] Includes Payments to private
collection agencies ($12.4 million in 2007-2008 and $9.1 million in 2008-2009).
Strategic Outcome 2: Eligible families and individuals receive
timely and correct benefit payments
(in thousands of dollars)
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Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
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[Footnote 1] Internal Services (Program Activity
7) has been attributed to the 6 Program Activities under the two strategic outcomes as follows: Taxpayer and Business
Assistance, 9.75%; Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing, 23.83%; Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance
20.74%; Reporting Compliance, 36.99%; Appeals, 3.69% and Benefit Programs, 5%.
[Footnote 2] Internal Services (Program Activity
7) has been attributed to the 6 Program Activities under the two strategic outcomes as follows: Taxpayer and Business
Assistance, 11.47%; Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing, 22.60%; Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance
21.35%; Reporting Compliance, 35.38%; Appeals, 3.46% and Benefit Programs, 5.74%.
[Footnote 3] Includes a) Relief for Heating
Expenses (program announced in 2000) ($1.1 million in 2007-2008 and $0.9 million in 2008-2009); b) Energy Costs Assistance
Measures expenses (program announced in the fall of 2005) ($1.0 million in 2007-2008 and $0.5 million in 2008-2009);
and c) Statutory Children’s Special Allowance payments ($208.2 million in 2007-2008 and $211.8 million in 2008-2009).
(in thousands of dollars)
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Respendable Revenue – Pursuant to section 60 of the
CRA Act
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Cost of services received without charge
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Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding
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[Footnote 1] Internal Services (Program Activity
7) has been attributed to the 6 Program Activities under the two strategic outcomes as follows: Taxpayer and Business
Assistance, 9.75%; Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing, 23.83%; Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance
20.74%; Reporting Compliance, 36.99%; Appeals, 3.69% and Benefit Programs, 5%.
[Footnote 2] Internal Services (Program Activity
7) has been attributed to the 6 Program Activities under the two strategic outcomes as follows: Taxpayer and Business
Assistance, 11.47%; Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing, 22.60%; Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance
21.35%; Reporting Compliance, 35.38%; Appeals, 3.46% and Benefit Programs, 5.74%.
2008-2009 Financial Resources (thousands of dollars)
2008-2009 Human Resources Full Time Equivalents (FTE)
Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcomes
As identified in our 2008-2009 Report on Plans and Priorities, our
tax and benefit focus over the planning period was on strengthening service, enhancing efforts
to address non-compliance, reinforcing trust, and maintaining effective relationships.
The following table identifies the strategic priorities we pursued in 2008-2009,
our results, and how these priorities support our Strategic Outcome(s).Additional details concerning individual program
activity achievements related to these strategic priorities are provided in Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by
Strategic Outcome.
Excellence in Program Delivery
Tax Operational Priorities
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Link to Strategic Outcome(s)
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2008-2009 Summary of Performance
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Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected
Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit
payments
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Our organization recognizes the value of service in fostering compliance
within a tax system that is based on self-assessment. In December 2008, we launched our comprehensive Service
Strategy. The goal of this strategy is to achieve continuous improvement in service delivery by providing
service that is accessible to all taxpayers while promoting the use of our electronic services.
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Taxpayers continue to rely on agent assisted service. As a result,
the usage of the telephone service channel has seen an increase of the last few years. In 2008-2009 we strengthened
service and improved caller accessibility. Due to these actions, the number of callers able to reach us
by telephone increased.
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We enhanced internet services through improved the
Common Look and Feel of our online service offerings, introduced new features in My Account, enhanced accounting
functions in My Business Account, and enhanced our Represent a client service.
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We targeted outreach activities on areas of high-risk
to raise awareness and promote higher levels of compliance within these populations to protect Canada’s
revenue base.
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We pursued outreach opportunities targeting such specific segments
of the population. Our objective in providing these information sessions and packages was to raise awareness
of our benefit programs and encourage qualified individuals to apply.
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In 2008-2009, we completed the implementation of the business requirements
to enable the processing of harmonized Ontario T2 returns as of April 1, 2009.
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Enhancing efforts to address non-compliance
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Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected
Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit
payments
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We sustained our focus on reducing non-compliance in the high-risk
areas of aggressive tax planning, GST/HST compliance, the underground
economy, plus non-filers/non-registrants, and revenue collections
by seeking to address the root causes of behaviour.
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We used more effective targeting of compliance messages to provide
taxpayers with the information they need to understand the risks and consequences of non-compliance. We
also increased and improved media coverage by targeting media groups with specific information of interest
to them. Additionally, we enhanced public knowledge and awareness of our compliance and enforcement activities
to make the public confident that we take action against taxpayers and benefit recipients who do not comply
with Canada’s tax laws.
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Our work with our international partners enables
us to keep abreast of different types of financial products, corporate structures, and international tax
laws that evolve to meet changing business practices. Our participation in conferences, working groups,
and other forums serves to ensure that we remain in a position to identify emerging compliance risks and,
ultimately, to protect Canada’s revenue base.
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The integrity of Canada’s tax regime is compromised in part by taxpayers
who do not honour their obligations to pay the amounts they owe. During this past year, we have seen consistent
increases in receivables in almost all revenue lines. With the development of our Risk Management Framework
in 2008, we have gained a better understanding of the makeup of tax debt and the levels
of risk associated with different tax categories. The framework helped us put in place more appropriate
case selection and resolution strategies to address specific areas of challenge.
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Our benefits validation program implemented elements of a long-term
benefits-specific compliance strategy.
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Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected
Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit
payments
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Effective messaging contributes to an open and transparent tax administration
by helping Canadians understand what we do about non-compliance and why; where we see the risks to Canada’s
tax system; and what we are doing to address those risks and protect Canada’s revenue base.
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To strengthen service and return accessibility targets to 90% for
general, business, and benefits callers, we internally reallocated approximately $27 million in 2008-2009.
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To build on public trust in our organization, during 2008-2009 we
implemented our Greeting Policy, which enables callers to obtain the identity of the agent serving them.
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Recognizing the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman’s important role in enhancing
public trust we facilitated access to our organization by establishing the
CRA-Ombudsman Liaison Office.
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In response to a 2006 internal audit that noted that our benefits
quality review process varied across the country, in 2008-2009 we implemented our Quality Review Strategy.
This provided a framework to standardize and improve our quality review process to ensure a consistent approach.
By doing so we improved our ability to measure processing accuracy and to more rapidly detect and address
administrative issues.
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Building Effective relationships
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Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected
Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit
payments
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In our view building and maintaining strong relationships with other
federal government agencies and departments, provinces, territories, and First Nations governments increased
the effectiveness and efficiency of our administration of Canada’s tax system.
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Co-operation among tax administrations, including the sharing of
tax information, is a key tool in protecting the integrity of Canada's tax system. For many years, we have
been working with our international partners to address the challenges associated with an increasingly complex
tax environment.
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We worked collaboratively with Finance Canada to ensure that our
tax treaty priorities and jurisdictions of interest to the CRA
from the perspective of enabling or enhancing information exchange in regard to tax matters were considered.
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We began work with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
( HRSDC) on an assessment of the
effectiveness and efficiency of the administration of the Universal Child Care Benefit ( UCCB).
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Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected
Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit
payments
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We sustained our focus on ensuring our
IT solutions were robust, secure, and reliable. We further
advanced our vulnerability assessment and management capabilities by providing improved reporting on the
health of our security for our entire networked computing infrastructure.
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The results we have achieved in support of sound comptrollership
strengthen accountability and oversight and promote the efficient and effective use of our financial resources.
In 2008-2009, we made improvements to our financial systems and processes and improved linkages between
CRA resources and the results we achieved.
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Our 2008-2009 Management Accountability Framework assessment was
very positive. Since last year’s assessment, we have improved our ratings in four areas of management. However,
our rating has declined in one area of management due to continued concerns related to certain aspects of
access to information and privacy, which we are committed to addressing.
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Workplace Committed to Excellence
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Link to Strategic Outcome(s)
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Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected
Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit
payments
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Effective People Management was a key leadership priority in the
CRA during 2008-2009.
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This past fiscal year, we developed and published our Agency
Workforce Plan 2009-2010 to 2011-2012 ( AWP),
a second instalment of our integrated human resources and business planning document.
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Attracting, developing, and retaining talent has remained a key priority.
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Important and fundamental steps towards advancing our Competency-Based
Human Resources Management regime were taken in 2008-2009 including the continued use of mandatory
prequalified processes ( PQPs) and the launch of the Migration
to End-State PQPs project.
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Our Strategic Outcome Measures
We use our strategic outcome measures to gauge the compliance behaviour of Canadian
taxpayers. Using data from internal and external sources as a baseline of compliance information, we group these indicators
into the following four broad categories of taxpayer obligations to help us measure and assess our results against our Tax
Services strategic outcome.
- Registration Compliance estimates the proportion of Canadian businesses that
have registered as required by law to collect the GST/HST.
- Filing Compliance indicators estimate the proportion of the Canadian population
who file their returns on time.
- Reporting Compliance indicators contribute to our assessment of the degree
to which taxpayers report complete and accurate information.
- Remittance Compliance indicators estimate the proportion of taxpayers who
owed taxes and paid the full amount on time.
To facilitate further analysis of compliance behaviour, we partition the Canadian
taxpayer population into the following types: individuals, self-employed individuals, corporations,
GST/HST registrants, and employers. Also included
are macro-indicators, which we use to evaluate reporting compliance trends.
Our Tax Services Strategic Outcome Measures
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Registration compliance – Rates of registration for the
GST /HST
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Canadian businesses that were registered for the
GST/HST
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[Footnote 1] Due to taxpayer filing requirements,
the registration rates for the year are based on information from the prior fiscal year. For example, rates for 2008-2009
are based on information from fiscal year 2007-2008.
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Filing compliance – Rates of filing on time
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Income tax filing rate for individuals18 and older
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Corporations – taxable incorporated businesses that filed their returns
on time [Footnote 2]
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Businesses that filed their
GST/HST returns on time
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Employers who filed their T4 returns
on time
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[Footnote 1] Historic filing estimates for
individuals and taxable corporations have been restated as a result of improved data.
[Footnote 2] The remaining percentage of
taxable corporations used for this calculation filed their returns after the due date, either voluntarily or as a result
of our non-filer work.
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Non-Compliance Rate Estimates
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Key tax credits and deductions not subject to third-party reporting
– individuals [Footnote 1]
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Random Audits – Small and Medium-sized Corporate Filers
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[Footnote 1] It should be noted that this
non-compliance is found in a relatively small segment of the population of individual taxpayers.
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Remittance compliance – Rate of timely payments
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Individuals who paid their reported taxes on time
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Percentage of taxable corporations that paid their reported taxes
on time [Footnote 2]
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2.7 million collected $47 billion
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2.8 million collected $52 billion
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3 million collected $50 billion
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3 million collected $52 billion
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3.3 million collected $47 billion
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Employers who forwarded at-source deductions on behalf of their employees
on time
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Trend in ratio of outstanding tax debt to gross cash receipts
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[Footnote 1] Historic remittance compliance
estimates for individuals and taxable corporations have been restated as a result of improved data.
[Footnote 2] These remittance rates have
been restated. A recent examination of the corporation data indicated that incomplete information (a total of the sum
of components was not being generated) had been used in previous years.
[Footnote 3] Businesses based in Quebec register
with the ministère du Revenu du Québec, which administers
GST on behalf
of the
CRA and remits the net amount due to the
CRA
Through the progress we have made during 2008-2009 in implementing major components
of our innovation agenda, we believe we have made significant gains towards improving our capacity to protect Canada’s revenue
base. Our estimates of taxpayers’ filing, registration, and remittance compliance indicate that overall levels of voluntary
compliance with Canada’s tax laws continued to be high in 2008-2009.
Our estimates of reporting compliance, however, indicate the incidence of non-compliance
may be slowly increasing. There are indications that the dollars at risk for some taxpayer sectors may be increasing. Although
performance results provide evidence that non-compliance is at relatively low levels, the results of our program activities
demonstrate that such non-compliance is, in total, financially significant. In 2008-2009, our programs to address reporting
non-compliance identified a total dollar value of over $17.8 billion, exceeding our estimates, which we based on historical
results combined with available resource levels.
We anticipate the results from the action plans we develop related to our Compliance
Review II will have a positive impact on levels of reporting compliance over the long term.
In light of our overall measurement and given that a significant proportion of
Canada’s revenue base is subject to third-party reporting, it is our assessment that, for the majority of Canadians, the
incidence and magnitude of non-compliance is relatively low, though financially significant. Consequently, it is our assessment
that we met our Tax Services strategic outcome in 2008-2009.
Our Benefit Programs Strategic Outcome Measures
|
|
|
|
Eligible families and individuals received timely and correct
benefit payments.
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Establishing eligibility
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|
Percentage of potential entitled recipients who receive the
CCTB (reported after each census)
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Payment timeliness
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Benefit recipients who receive payments on time
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Benefit payments are correct
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Percentage of CCTB
recipients that provide complete and accurate information and receive the proper entitlement
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CCTB overpayment
debt as a percentage of payments issued
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Provinces, territories, and other federal departments
rely on the CRA as a key service
provider
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Number of programs and services administered
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It is our assessment that we met our Benefit Programs strategic outcome. Through
our efforts in administering benefit programs, eligible families and individuals received timely and correct benefit payments,
and our government clients were afforded reliable services, enjoyed lower administration costs and more effective compliance.
Benefit recipients can rely on the CRA to administer a better-integrated
benefits system of high integrity and be assured that the CRA contributes
to reducing the overall cost of government in Canada.
Our Macro Indicators
We also analyze various macro-indicators to evaluate reporting compliance trends.
As graphically depicted below, our macro indicators provide us with assurance that taxpayers, in general, are complying
with their obligations and that levels of reporting non-compliance are relatively low.
Figure 1: Growth in Personal Income Reported to the
CRA Compared With Personal Income Estimated by Statistics Canada
Figure 2: Growth in corporate income taxes that we have assessed tracks
favourably with growth in corporate profits before tax estimated by Statistics Canada
Figure 3: Growth in net income of unincorporated businesses reported to
us tracks favourably with National Accounts Estimates of the growth in net income of unincorporated Businesses
Figure 4: Due to a variety of factors, including recent reductions in
GST rate, trending information related to
GST revenue is no longer clear and we can draw no conclusions from this
data
Our reporting compliance indicators provide
us with a mixed view of taxpayer behaviour. Although our studies of limited populations show material levels of non-compliance,
our macro-indicators provide a sense of assurance that levels of reporting non-compliance are relatively low. For these
reasons, it is our assessment that, during 2008-2009, we mostly met our reporting compliance expectations.
Expenditure Profile
Figure 5: Spending Trends
The trend in the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) reference levels since 2005-2006 is attributable to three main factors, namely,
receipt of increased operating resources, contributions to Government-wide expenditure reduction initiatives and fluctuations
in the Agency’s statutory authorities. New operating resources were received as a result of collective bargaining settlements
and for additional administration activities associated with new initiatives announced in various Federal Budgets and Economic
Statements, including the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario initiative and the Softwood Lumber Products Export
Charge Act, 2006. Reference levels have also increased as a result of the transfer from Public Works and Government
Services Canada to the CRA to fund accommodation and real property costs.
These increases have been offset by the Agency’s contribution to various Government-wide expenditures reduction initiatives.
Lastly, fluctuations in the Agency’s statutory authorities related to Children’s Special Allowance payments, employee benefit
plan contributions, the spending of revenues received through the conduct of operations pursuant to Section 60 of the
Canada Revenue Act, payments to private collection agencies and payments to the provinces under the Softwood
Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, have also contributed to the trend in Agency spending over the past four years.
In 2008-2009, of the $4,370.7 million total authority,
CRA’s actual spending totalled $4,198.7 million resulting in $172.0 million
remaining unexpended at year-end. After deducting unused resources related to the proposed Offshore Trusts initiative and
Public Opinion Research savings, the remaining $147.1 million is available for use by the Agency in 2009-2010. This amount
represents 3.4% of the total authority.
Voted and Statutory Items
(in thousands of dollars)
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Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording
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Program expenditures and recoverable expenditures on behalf of the
Canada Pension Plan and the Employment Insurance Act
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Minister of National Revenue – Salary and motor car allowance
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Spending of revenues received through the conduct of its operations
pursuant to section 60 of the Canada Revenue Agency Act
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Contributions to employee benefit plans ( EBP)
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Children’s Special Allowance payments
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Payments to private collection agencies pursuant to section 17.1
of the Financial Administration Act
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Payments under the Energy Costs Assistance Measures Act
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Payments to provinces under the Softwood Lumber Products Export
Charge Act, 2006
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Spending of proceeds from the disposal of Surplus Crown Assets
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Authorities approved after tabled Main Estimates
The following table details the authorities approved for the Agency after the
Main Estimates and reconciles with the Total Authorities shown on
.
(in thousands of dollars)
|
|
|
|
Administration of corporate tax for the Province of Ontario
|
|
Transfer from Public Works and Government Services Canada for increased
accommodation and real property services charges
|
|
Collective Agreements – Public Service Alliance of Canada ( PSAC)
|
|
|
|
Payments to provinces under the Softwood Lumber Products Export
Charge Act, 2006
|
|
Carryforward from 2007-2008
|
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Severance Pay, Parental Benefits and Vacation Credits
|
|
Respendable Revenue adjustment primarily for information technology
services provided to CBSA
|
|
Initiatives such as the Functional Currency Tax Reporting and Tax
Free Savings Account arising from the 2007 and 2008 Federal Budgets
|
|
|
|
Government advertising programs
|
|
Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program (2007 and 2008)
|
|
Economic Increase for the EC
group (salaries)
|
|
Severance Pay, Parental Benefits and Vacation Credits (2007)
|
|
|
|
Economic Increase for the HR
group (salaries)
|
|
Transfer from Public Health Agency for the advertising campaign on
the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit
|
|
Payments under the Energy Costs Assistance Measures Act
|
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Fee Increase for Crown Agents – Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions
|
|
|
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Adjustments to Revenues Credited to Vote 1
|
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Wage Earner Protection Program
|
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Transfer from Human Resources and Skills Development for registered
plans information exchange
|
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Year-end adjustment to employee benefit plan contributions
|
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Reduced payments to private collection agencies
|
|
Year-end adjustment – Children’s Special Allowance Payments
|
|
Adjustments to costs recovered from the Canada Pension Plan / Employment
Insurance Accounts
|
|
Transfer to TBS
for the continuing implementation of the Public Service Modernization Act
|
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Transfer to Public Service Human Resources Management Agency to support
National Managers' Community
|
|
|
Total Authorities at year-end
|
|
Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome
Taxpayer and Business Assistance (PA1)
Benefit to Canadians
Our Taxpayer and Business Assistance area assists taxpayers, businesses, and registrants
in meeting their obligations under Canada’s self-assessment system by providing accurate and timely responses to their enquiries.
Taxpayers have access to the information they need through a variety of channels (e.g. our Web site, telephones, paper publications,
in-person, and outreach). In addition, we provide rulings and interpretations to clarify and interpret tax laws, and administer
federal tax legislation governing registered plans and charities.
We carry out this program activity to achieve the following Expected Results:
Taxpayers, businesses and registrants have access to timely and accurate information
and services and are ensured fair administration of the tax system through responsible enforcement.
Spending Profile: (thousands of dollars)
|
Total Authorities
2008-2009
|
Actual Spending
2008-2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Snapshot of Taxpayer and Business Assistance (PA1)
Notable Achievements by Sub-Activity
- Enquiries and Information Services – We handled more
than 17.8 million public enquiries and over 32.7 million visits to taxpayer services web based information products
pages.
- Excise and
GST/HST Rulings and Interpretations
– We processed 3,908 written enquiries for rulings and interpretations, and handled almost 101,000
GST/HST-related technical telephone enquiries.
- CPP/EI
Rulings – We processed over 71,000 requests for rulings.
- Registered Plans – We administered over 33,000 plans,
and conducted 444 audits.
- Charities – We administered more than 84,000 registered
charities, processed over 86,000 returns, and conducted 853 audits.
Figure 6: Actual Spending
In 2008-2009, spending for this program activity totalled $605
million (4,844 FTEs) or 14.4% of the
CRA’s overall expenditures.* Of this $605 million, $483 million was net
program expenditures* and $122 million was allocated to this program activity for internal services.
* Spending figures for sub-activities may not add up to this
total due to rounding.
Contribution to Agency Priority
Strengthening Service
In support of this priority, in 2008-2009 we accomplished
the following:
As identified in our 2008-2009 Report on Plans
and Priorities
|
|
Continue to expand channel convergence
|
In 2008-2009, we expanded our Smartlinks service by adding new links
to selected Web pages for individuals.
|
Our Smartlinks service aligns telephone and Internet service delivery
channels by linking users of our Web site tax information for individuals and businesses to our telephone
service. Our expanded Smartlinks program provided direct telephone access to subject matter experts for
over 34,000 taxpayers, a 34.2% increase from the previous year.
|
Enhance targeting and customization of outreach programs
|
We tailored new outreach programs and initiatives to the diverse
needs of taxpayers. These included pre-retirement seminars, small business seminars, and other presentations
about timely topics such as job losses resulting from the economic downturn.
|
Volunteers working with the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program
were trained using a new CD. This ensured uniform volunteer training in order to improve the quality of
service.
|
Continue to improve quality of information services provided
|
We enhanced our National Quality and Accuracy Learning Program, a
learning tool designed to assist our agents in improving the quality and accuracy of the service they provide.
Results on call quality and accuracy are used in part to identify training needs, emerging issues and trends.
|
We converted more of our paper-based training products to online
and e-learning training products. In addition, we improved the navigation between the agent’s desktop and
online reference material, resulting in faster access to the information needed to address taxpayer enquiries.
|
In 2008-2009, we met our service standards for answering general
and business tax telephone calls in a timely manner. We also exceeded our services standard for answering
charities enquiries.
|
Implement a new tobacco product stamping regime with covert and overt
security features
|
As a major step to prevent contraband tobacco products from entering
the Canadian market, and to support the Government of Canada’s health objectives, a prototype tobacco excise
stamp was released and is currently being tested by the tobacco industry. Implementation is targeted for
early 2010.
|
Fully implement the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act,
2006 legislation
|
In support of the implementation of the Softwood Lumber Products
Export Charge Act, 2006, we followed through on our commitment to work with exporters to promote continual
compliance. We conducted verification activities to audit the books and records of exporters participating
in the Softwood Lumber Export Charge program.
|
Modernize and strengthen the charities program
|
We modernized and strengthened our charities program through activities
such as delivering our first charities information session via online “webinar”, revising the annual information
return, and improving the search and display functionality of charities internet forms.
|
We did not meet our performance targets for responding to simple
and regular charities applications within the established timeframes.Due to a high inventory of charities
files that needed to be processed, as well as staffing shortages and high employee turnover, a performance
shortfall resulted. Steps have been taken to resolve this and it is expected that targets will be met by
the end of 2009-2010.
|
Performance Report Card
|
|
|
|
Taxpayers, businesses, and registrants have access to timely and
accurate information
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
General calls answered within two minutes of entering the queue
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Business calls answered within two minutes of entering the queue
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Charities calls answered within two minutes of entering the queue
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Respond to written requests for
GST/HST rulings and interpretations
within 45 working days of receipt of request [Footnote 1]
|
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|
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|
|
|
Average number of days to issue an income tax technical interpretation
to taxpayers
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Average number of days to issue an advance income tax ruling to taxpayers
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of
CPP/EI rulings issued within targeted
time frames
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of responses to simple applications for charitable registration
within targeted time frames (2 months)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of responses to regular applications for charitable registration
within targeted time frames (6 months)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of registered plans applications reviewed within established
time frames
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of accurately updated internal reference materials for
taxpayer services and charities agents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
General callers that reach our telephone service
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Business callers that reach our telephone service
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Charities callers that reach our telephone service
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[Footnote 1] The target was raised from 75%
to 80% in 2008-2009.
[Footnote 2] This became a service standard
in 2006-2007. Prior-year results reflect performance against a performance target.
For supplementary information on this Program Activity, please visit:
www.cra.gc.ca/annualreport
Performance Report Card
|
|
|
|
Non compliance is detected and addressed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of excise regulatory reviews completed compared to planned
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of excise audits completed compared to planned
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of registered pension plan audits completed compared to
planned
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of registered charities audits completed compared to planned
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For supplementary information on this Program Activity, please visit:
www.cra.gc.ca/annualreport
Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing (PA2)
Benefit to Canadians
Our programs contribute to individuals and businesses meeting their filing, reporting,
and payment obligations. We undertake a wide range of activities to process individual and business tax returns and payments,
including the use of risk assessment, third-party data matching, and information validation to detect and address non-compliance.
We carry out this program activity to achieve the following Expected Result:
Taxfilers receive timely and accurate assessment notices and payment processing
for Individual Income Tax, Corporation Income Tax and GST/HST
Returns, Excise and Other Levies and adequate checks and balances exist to ensure compliance with applicable tax laws.
Spending Profile: (thousands of dollars)
|
|
Actual Spending
2008-2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Snapshot of Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing (PA2)
Notable Achievements by Sub-Activity
- Individual Returns Processing – We processed more than 27
million individual returns; refunded $26.6 billion to nearly 17.9 million individual taxpayers; and processed
over 210,000 T3 trust returns. There were almost 321,000 individuals enrolled
and over 3.8 million visits to My Account.
- Business Returns Processing – We processed almost 1.6 million
information returns, more than 1.8 million corporate returns and more than 34.7 million payments, totalling almost
$366 billion.
Figure 7: Actual Spending
In 2008-2009, spending for this program activity totalled $885
million (8,772 FTEs) or 21.1% of the
CRA’s overall expenditures.* Of this $885 million, $646 million was for
net program expenditures, and $239 million was allocated to this program activity for internal services.
* Spending figures for sub-activities may not add up to this
total due to rounding.
Contribution to Agency Priorities
Strengthening Service and Enhancing our Efforts to
Address Non-Compliance
In support of this priority, in 2008-2009 we accomplished
the following:
As identified in our 2008-2009 Report on Plans
and Priorities
|
|
Provide enhanced Internet services
|
Our online self-service offerings continue to attract considerable
interest from individuals and businesses.
|
Successful log-ins to My Account for individuals have increased 17%
this fiscal year over last, and the number of new individual My Account enrolments increased 2% over the
same period.
|
In 2008-2009, My Business Account registered over 351,000 successful
log-ins, as compared with almost 111,000 in 2007-2008. We believe that our efforts to enhance the overall
functionality of this service is proving popular with business owners.
|
The number of registrants for our Represent a client service has
increased by close to 42%. We expect this upward trend to continue as more representatives become authorized
for online access and begin taking advantage of My Business Account’s features.
|
Implement the redeveloped
GST/HST system and return
|
We made additional enhancements to our new
GST/HST system.
|
Implement the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario initiative
|
We implemented the business requirements to enable the processing
of harmonized T2 returns as of April 1, 2009.
|
Implement initiatives of the Action Task Force on Small Business
Issues
|
In response to items identified in the Report of the Canada Revenue
Agency’s Action Task Force on Small Business Issues, we issued a Final Report
on Action Items to the action task force members in November 2008. Of the 61 identified actions items, 31
items were completed and the remaining 30 represent ongoing activities. The report can be viewed at
www.cra.gc.ca/atfreport.
|
The Performance Measurement Framework
for Compliance Burden Reduction, which measures compliance costs in time and money, will be used to
report on future progress in burden reduction measures. This framework can be viewed at
www.cra.gc.ca/atfreport.
|
Performance Report Card
|
|
|
|
Assessment and payment processing are timely and accurate
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Processing T1 individual income tax returns: paper within 4-6 weeks 2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Processing T1 individual income tax returns: electronic within 2
weeks [Footnote 2]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of
GST/HST returns processed within
21 days
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of
GST/HST returns processed within
30 days [Footnote 3]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Processing T2 corporation income tax returns within 60 days
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Processing Excise Tax, Excise Duty, and Air Travellers Security Charge
return within 90 days
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of funds from non-electronic payments deposited within
24 hours of receipt
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
T1 returns received on time processed by mid-June
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Electronic Processing Take-Up
|
Percentage of individuals and corporations who file electronically
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of T1 returns assessed accurately
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Taxpayer-requested adjustments reassessed accurately
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[Footnote 3] The standard was changed from
21 days to 30 days to align with legislative change.
For supplementary information on this Program Activity, please visit:
www.cra.gc.ca/annualreport
Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance (PA3)
Benefit to Canadians
Our Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance area manages the largest debt collection
service in Canada, including receivables arising from income tax,
GST/HST, the Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance,
and defaulted Canada student loans. In addition, this area promotes compliance with Canada’s tax legislation covering employers,
payroll, and the GST/HST.
We carry out this program activity to achieve the following Expected
Result:
Non-compliance with the filing, registration, and remitting requirements of the
Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act and other legislation are identified and addressed and the level of
debt is managed to ensure that taxpayers pay their required share.
Spending Profile: (thousands of dollars)
|
Total Authorities
2008-2009
|
Actual Spending
2008-2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Snapshot of Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance (PA3)
Notable Achievements by Sub-Activity
- Accounts Receivable –
TSO cash collections totalled $16 billion, which includes cash collections
from National Pools of more than $1.0 billion and from large accounts totalled over $8.3 billion.
- Trust Accounts – More than 787,000 returns were obtained
from individuals and corporate taxpayers who had not filed their returns, more than 7,000
GST/HST non-registrants were identified,
and 647,320 payroll exams and reviews were completed. Our Contract Payment Reporting Initiative secured a total
of over 61,000 additional individual and corporate tax returns.
Figure 8: Actual Spending
In 2008-2009, spending for this program activity totalled $724
million (9,238 FTEs) or 17.2% of the
CRA’s overall expenditures.* Of this $724 million, $498 million was for
net program expenditures, and $226 million was allocated to this program activity for internal services.
* Spending figures for sub-activities may not add up to this
total due to rounding.
Contribution to Agency Priority
Enhancing our Efforts to Address Non-Compliance
In support of this priority, in 2008-2009 we accomplished
the following:
As identified in our 2008-2009 Report on Plans
and Priorities
|
|
Implement business transformation processes
|
Over the past several years, we have been developing the Integrated
Revenue Collections ( IRC) platform, the framework
upon which our business transformation is built. IRC
technology has enabled us to access large amounts of taxpayer data related to both returns compliance and
accounts receivable. In turn, this has enabled us to identify trends, patterns, and relationships to guide
our development of strategies aimed at increasing the levels of compliance and revenue recovery. During
2008-2009, our IRC project yielded a new toolset
that we began to use to analyze taxpayer accounts with a view to increasing the dollar recovery potential
of the files we select for collections action. We also completed a pilot project in our non-filer/non-registrant
area to refine and enhance related account file selection processes.
|
Also in 2008-2009, we enhanced our collections risk management framework,
which enabled us to better identify those sectors that present a higher degree of collections risk. Based
on the results of our study, we are examining a subset of these industries in order to implement some specific
collection strategies in 2010-2011.
|
To further help us keep tax debt within targeted levels, we strengthened
our accountabilities by establishing clear and concise performance measurements in 2008-2009. For example,
we introduced a single resolution target range in place of separate targets for cash and write-offs to strengthen
our Tax Services Office ( TSO) agents’ focus on resolving
all accounts. We also modified our target for the value of TSO
accounts receivable older than five years from a percentage value to a dollar value. Debt over five years,
when expressed in percentage terms was dependent on the value of new intake. When expressed in dollar terms,
the debt over five years becomes a more concrete target.
|
Our strategies to improve our capacity to manage the tax debt as
well as detect and address non-compliance are beginning to have a tangible impact on our achievements related
to our expected results.
|
Performance Report Card
|
|
|
|
Tax and non-tax debt are resolved on a timely basis and are within
targeted levels
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Percentage of intake resolved in the year of intake
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dollar value of TSO
production as a percentage of dollar value of TSO intake
of new accounts receivable
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dollar value of TSO
tax accounts receivable older than five years ($ billions) [Footnote 1]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TSO cash collections
($ billions)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-tax debt – Dollars collected ($ millions)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Non-compliance is detected and addressed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
T1/T2 non-filers/ GST/HST non-registrant non-compliance ($ billions)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Employer/payroll/ GST/HST non-compliance ($ billions)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[Footnote 1] Target excludes
GST/HST delinquent filer program.
[Footnote 2] 2007-2008 data unavailable due
to
GST/HST system redesign.
For supplementary information on this Program Activity, please visit:
www.cra.gc.ca/annualreport
Reporting Compliance (PA4)
Benefit to Canadians
We undertake examinations, audits, and investigations to ensure compliance with
Canada’s tax laws. This includes verification and enforcement activities at the domestic and international level, including
the administration of international tax agreements. We also provide information to taxpayers to help them comply. We conduct
research to improve identification of non-compliance and develop strategies to address it.
We carry out this program activity to achieve the following Expected Result:
Audits, examinations, mandatory reviews, investigations, prosecutions and voluntary
disclosures detect and address non-compliance with the reporting requirements of the Acts administered by the
CRA.
Spending Profile: (thousands of dollars)
|
Total Authorities 2008-2009
|
Actual Spending
2008-2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Snapshot of Reporting Compliance (PA4)
Notable Achievements by Sub-Activity
- International and large businesses – We conducted over
41,000 audits, resulting in a fiscal impact of $5.2 billion.
- Small and medium-sized enterprises – We conducted over
323,000 audits and examinations, resulting in a fiscal impact of $2.2 billion.
- Enforcements and disclosures – We conducted 874 audits
under the Special Enforcement Program, resulting in a fiscal impact of $187 million. Under the Criminal Investigations
Program, we referred 164 income tax and GST/HST
investigations for prosecution.
- Scientific Research and Experimental Development Program
– This program provided more than $4 billion in tax assistance to over 18,000 claimants.
Figure 9: Actual Spending
In 2008-2009, spending for this program activity totalled $1.4
billion (13,332 FTE’s) or 33.6% of the
CRA’s overall expenditures. * Of this $1.4 billion, $1.038 billion was
net program expenditures and $375 million was allocated to this program activity for internal services.
* Spending figures for sub-activities may not add up to this
total due to rounding.
Contribution to Agency Priorities
Strengthening Service and Enhancing our Efforts to Address Non-Compliance
In support of this priority, in 2008-2009 we accomplished
the following:
As identified in our 2008-2009 Report on Plans
and Priorities
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We strive to understand the compliance risks that challenge the Canadian
tax system. The first Compliance Review in 2004-2005 identified four main high risk compliance areas, including
aggressive tax planning, GST/HST
high risk, the underground economy, and revenue collection and non-filers/non-registrants to develop an
agenda for strengthening compliance and integrity, both short and long term.
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A second Compliance Review was initiated during 2007-2008. The objective
of this exercise was to identify or confirm existing compliance priorities set out in our first Compliance
Review and recommend new or revised strategies for addressing them.
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The second Compliance Review exercise identified five major compliance
priorities, which were aggressive tax planning, the underground economy, payment compliance, willful non-compliance,
and contraband tobacco.
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Some tax intermediaries promote aggressive tax plans and schemes
which go beyond the spirit of the law and are designed to obtain tax advantages that were not intended by
government. These abusive schemes and transactions are used to reduce, avoid, or evade Canadian taxes sometimes
through international transactions and, in particular, through the use of tax havens. Left unchecked, the
integrity and fairness of Canada’s tax system could be at risk.
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In 2008-2009, we met our audit targets related to the high risk compliance
area of aggressive tax planning by completing cases involving aggressive domestic and international tax
planning, high-risk international tax avoidance, complex high risk international issues, and tax shelters.
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Our compliance activities also target aggressive inter-provincial
tax planning including any and all inappropriate attempts to shift income or profits between provinces to
reduce or avoid paying provincial taxes. We are also developing an inter-provincial tax avoidance and provincial
income allocation action plan for implementation in 2009-2010. In preparation, we have dedicated resources
to address files where federal tax is not at issue but provincial tax is being avoided. In addition we have
also established five interprovincial tax avoidance centres of expertise to undertake research on provincial
issues and possible strategies that are in use or could be in use.
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The underground economy ( UE)
undermines the competitiveness of Canadian businesses because it offers an unfair, illegal advantage to
those who fail to comply with Canada’s tax laws.
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During 2008-2009 we conducted over 12,800
UE audits, resulting in over $265 million in fiscal impact.
We evaluated the results of the 2005-2006 UE pilot projects
and where results were positive we incorporated the activities into our regular work activity.
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GST/HST
High Risk Compliance
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Our approach to
GST/HST compliance is to strengthen
our Agency-wide capacity, enhance our enforcement activities, improve our ability to identify high-risk
registrants and refund claims before refunds are issued, and broaden our engagement of stakeholders. Assessing
the level of compliance is the first step in developing a compliance strategy for
GST/HST refund claims, therefore
the Agency initiated a project to estimate overstatements using post payment audits of credit returns filed
in 2004. The report from the audits of 2,200 randomly chosen
GST/HST refund claims has been analyzed
and we are looking at how to best integrate recommendations into our workload. Furthermore, we acquired
investigative analysis software to aid in the detection of non-compliance as well as enhance our risk rating,
analysis, and audit functions.
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Compliance Communications Strategy
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Significant progress has been made over the past year in successfully
implementing the many activities outlined in the action plan.
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Some of the activities carried out in the past year include publishing
of new Tax Alerts, News Canada articles, News releases, special Web pages, and a trade school education
initiative.
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Scientific Research and Experimental Development ( SR&ED) Program administration enhancement
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During 2008-2009, we made it easier for businesses to apply for this
tax credit by publishing a simplified claim form and associated guide, as well as a new
CD-ROM, brochure and leaflet. In addition, we developed a Web-based
SR&ED Eligibility Self-Assessment
Tool ( ESAT) to help claimants identify whether
their research and development projects may qualify under the program. Statistics on Web visits to our
SR&ED home page indicate
that awareness of our SR&ED
program has increased, which we attribute, in part, to our release of these new products.
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Performance Report Card
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Non-compliance is detected and addressed
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Number of files audited as a percentage of estimate:
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International and large businesses
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Small and medium-sized enterprises ( SME)
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Effective assessment of risk and detection of reporting non-compliance
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Fiscal Impact ($ Billion)
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[Footnote 1] The Core Audit Program selects,
in multi-year intervals, random samples of tax files from different segments of the
SME population for auditing, in an effort to estimate
a reliable non-compliance rate. This year, the
CAP sampled T2 population
where gross revenues were less than $12,000,000 and non-compliance was greater than $5,000 in federal tax.
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Processing is timely and accurate
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Processing non-resident regulation 105 waiver requests (within 30
days)
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SR&ED refundable claims
(within 120 days)
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Video and film tax credits – refundable claims – audited (within
120 days)
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For supplementary information on this Program Activity, please visit:
www.cra.gc.ca/annualreport
Appeals ( PA5)
Benefit to Canadians
We strive to make fair and timely dispute resolution available to taxpayers and
benefit recipients. Taxpayers can dispute assessments and determinations pertaining to income tax and commodity taxes, as
well as CPP/EI assessments and rulings.
Our Service Complaints Program provides taxpayers with a formal resolution process
for complaints. We also administer taxpayer relief provisions, which help taxpayers who are unable to meet their tax obligations
because of extraordinary circumstances.
We carry out this program activity to achieve the following Expected Result:
Taxpayers receive a timely and impartial review of contested decisions made under
the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Acts, the Canada Pension Plan and the Employment Insurance Act, and
timely updates to service complaints.
Spending Profile: (thousands of dollars)
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Total Authorities 2008-2009
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Actual Spending
2008-2009
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A Snapshot of Appeals (PA5)
Notable Achievements by Sub-Activity
- Appeals – We resolved over 67,000 disputes, representing
over $2.6 billion in taxes. Over 109,000 disputes remain in workable and non-workable inventory, totalling
more than $12.2 billion in taxes.
- Taxpayer Relief Provisions – Over 63,000 requests for
relief from interest and penalties were processed by the CRA. Approximately
39,000 of these requests were allowed in full or in part, in favour of the taxpayer. The total value of all cancellations
and waivers was more than $913 million.
- Service Complaints – More than 2,500 service complaints
were processed.
Figure 10: Actual Spending
In 2008-2009, spending for this program activity totalled $169
million (1,521 FTE’s) or 4.0% of the
CRA’s overall expenditures. * Of this $169 million, $132 million was for
net program expenditures, and $37 million was allocated to this program activity for internal services.
* Spending figures for sub-activities may not add up to this
total due to rounding.
Contribution to Agency Priorities
Strengthening Service and Reinforcing Trust
In support of this priority, in 2008-2009 we accomplished
the following:
As identified in our 2008-2009 Report on Plans
and Priorities
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Improve consistency in the agency-wide administration of the Taxpayer
Relief Provisions
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A key aspect of our commitment to fairness is our mandate to consider
relief to taxpayers through the taxpayer relief provisions contained in the various acts we administer.
This year, we completed system enhancements which are intended to complement the program’s fairness and
consistency. We improved data capture and program reporting of emerging trends to enhance our monitoring
and identification of issues relating to taxpayer provisions. We expect these measures will translate into
increased consistency of service for taxpayers.
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Review and strengthen core business processes and operations
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We completed the national implementation of centres of expertise
for our large file activities. This step enabled us to streamline our appeals processing activities, and
contributed to improved workload management, productivity, and consistency in the treatment of files. In
addition, we implemented a CPP/EI national
resource bank on our intranet to help resolve key dispute resolution issues. We believe that this enriched
work tool contributed to the 5% decrease in the number of workable days to complete a
CPP/EI case.
Taxpayers’ accessibility to their redress entitlements was made easier
this year through enhancements to our Web site. The “Register My Formal Dispute” sub-application of “My
Account” now enables electronic dispute submissions from self-employed individuals.
We took steps in 2008-2009 to improve our performance related to
CRA Service Complaints. We began the development of quarterly
reports to enable us to better understand complaint issues and deal with them effectively, as well as a
national complaint quality assurance program to establish service complaints standards. We also initiated
the integration of our Problem Resolution Program into our Service Complaints area so that we can make the
best use of our infrastructure.
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Performance Report Card
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Taxpayers receive an impartial and timely review of contested decisions
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Appeals activities that met standards for consistency
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Appeals activities that met standards for transparency
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Service standard for initial contact
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Average age of workable inventory (in days)
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Neutral or downward trend
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Neutral or downward trend
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Neutral or downward trend
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[Footnote 1] The overall rating is based
on whether or not results were achieved against established targets for the combined workloads.
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Service complaints and taxpayer relief provisions are administered
consistently
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- Service complaints – acknowledged within 48 hours
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- Service complaints – taxpayers contacted within 15 days
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- Taxpayer relief provisions – consistent application (per
Quality Assurance Program)
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For supplementary information on this Program Activity, please visit:
www.cra.gc.ca/annualreport
Benefit Programs (PA6)
Benefit to Canadians
Our Benefit Programs contribute directly to the economic and social well-being
of Canadians by delivering income-based and other benefits, credits, and services to eligible residents for federal, provincial,
and territorial governments. We administer the Canada Child Tax Benefit, the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax
credit, and the Children’s Special Allowances, which are three core federal programs that issue benefit payments. We also
deliver the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) on behalf of Human
Resources and Skills Development Canada and numerous ongoing and one-time benefit and credit programs and services on behalf
of provincial, territorial, and other federal government clients.
We carry out this program activity to achieve the following Expected Result:
Benefit recipients receive eligibility determinations and payments, and have access
to information, that is timely and accurate.
Spending Profile: (thousands of dollars)
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Total Authorities 2008-2009
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Actual Spending
2008-2009
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A Snapshot of Benefit Programs (PA6)
Notable Achievements by Sub-Activity
- Benefit Programs Client Services – We handled over 6.9
million telephone enquiries.
- Benefit Programs Administration – We issued almost 91
million benefit payments, totalling more than $16 billion to 11 million recipients. We determined $703 million in
Disability Tax Credit entitlements for over 510,000 individuals. We processed over 735,000 applications and marital
status change forms, over 688,000 account maintenance adjustments, and over 1.1 million in-year
GST/HST credit account redeterminations.
- Direct transfer payments under statutory programs –
We issued more than $211 million under the Children’s Special Allowances (CSA) program and over $488,000 under the Energy Cost Benefit program.
Figure 11: Actual Spending
In 2008-2009, spending for this program activity totalled $403
million (2,050 FTE’s) or 9.6% of the
CRA’s overall expenditures.* Of this $403 million, $342 million were net
program expenditures, and $61 million was allocated to this program activity for internal services.
* Spending figures for sub-activities may not add up to this
total due to rounding.
Contribution to Agency Priorities
Ensure timely benefit payments
Ensure accurate benefit payments and strengthening compliance
Ensure that CRA is a key service
provider
In support of this priority, in 2008-2009 we accomplished
the following:
As identified in our 2008-2009 Report on Plans
and Priorities
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Continue to improve the quality of information services provided
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In 2008-2009, we enhanced our National Quality and Accuracy Learning
Program to help our agents improve the quality and accuracy of the service they provide. Results on call
quality and accuracy are used in part to identify training needs, as well as emerging issues and trends.
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In 2008-2009 we exceeded our service standard for answering
CCTB calls in a timely manner.
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Ensure the ability of our benefit delivery infrastructure to support
core business and growth
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We strengthened our infrastructure during 2008-2009 through enhancements
made to several of our core processing systems. We also enhanced Data Governance and Stewardship of all
Individual Identification data elements and improved the continuity of benefit payments in the event of
a system disruption or outage.
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Maintain high levels of service and accountability in core program
delivery
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We focused on increasing the accessibility and efficiency of our
programs and services, as well as enhancing our Internet-based, self-service options to ensure that benefit
recipients have timely access to the information they need.
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As a result of the enhancements to My Account, the number of visits
to Benefits Web pages increased by 18.8%, suggesting that more benefit recipients are using the self service
options on our Web pages.
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In 2008-2009 3.2 million inserts were sent to
CCTB recipients, 1.5 million inserts were sent to
UCCB recipients, and a targeted mailout was sent
to potential WITB advance payment recipients.
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Our outreach efforts are designed to increase our visibility in the
community, to encourage uptake of our programs, and to inform individuals of their entitlements and obligations.
We recognize that enrolment levels for many segments of the population, such as persons with disabilities,
new residents, and First Nations people, benefit from targeted outreach. In 2008-2009, we believe our outreach
activities were well received by our targeted audiences and contributed to increasing awareness and encouraged
voluntary compliance.
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We laid the groundwork for Automated Benefits Applications ( ABA), which will allow parents to apply for child and family benefits
when their child is born by checking a box on their provincial or territorial birth registration forms.
Our ABA initiative is an important step to improve
service by simplifying the benefit application process. It is also a vital compliance tool that provides
source data from provinces and territories to ensure timely, valid, and accurate application information.
We believe that by simplifying the benefit application process through
ABA we have reinforced our commitment to ensure
that eligible Canadians are aware of and can readily access the benefits and credits to which they are entitled.
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Maintain the confidence of benefit recipients and client governments
through strengthening validation and controls
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In 2008-2009, under the National Routing System, we received information
from five provinces on vital event data exchange such as births and deaths, further enhancing our data accuracy.
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We also target accounts identified as high-risk for potential overpayments
or underpayments for further verification. In 2008-2009, our results indicate that we used effective criteria
for selecting accounts for review and that we ensured benefits were paid only to those who qualify and were
in the correct amount.
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Although we reviewed fewer accounts in 2008-2009 than in the previous
year, our effective targeting identified greater financial consequences. During 2008-2009, our adjustments
uncovered $99 million in benefit and credit underpayments and over $260 million in overpayments an increase
from $81 million and $195 million respectively over the previous year. Where recipients were overpaid, we
offset amounts from future payments, refunds, and credits to which the recipients are entitled.
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Manage Business growth and partnerships
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We have a reputation for providing accurate, efficient, and cost-effective
delivery of many benefit and credit programs. The increase in data transfer and data exchange services we
deliver has grown from 58 in 2004-2005 to 93 in 2008-2009. We added a total of 16 programs and services
last year.
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Performance Report Card
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Benefit recipients have access to timely and accurate information
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Percentage of CCTB calls
answered within two minutes of entering the queue
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Percentage of
GST/HST credit calls answered within
two minutes of entering the queue
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Percentage of CCTB
callers that reach our telephone service [Footnote 1]
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Percentage of
GST/HST credit callers that reach
our telephone service
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[Footnote 1] Caller accessibility targets
were increased from 80% to 90% for 2008-2009.
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Eligibility determination and payment processing are timely and accurate
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Our Indicators |
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Percentage of benefit applications and marital status change forms
processed on time
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Percentage of benefit recipients expressing satisfaction with the
service received
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Percentage of CCTB
accounts adjusted that were targeted under validation programs
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Percentage of accurate payments when processing benefit applications
and marital status change forms
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Percentage of accurate payments when processing account maintenance
adjustments
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Percentage of CCTB
accounts reviewed
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For supplementary information on this Program Activity, please visit:
www.cra.gc.ca/annualreport
Internal Services (PA7)
Benefit to Canadians
The CRA delivers high-quality
tax, benefit, and related services on behalf of governments across Canada. In support of our two strategic themes, our human
resources, information technology, and other horizontal management areas must be fully integrated to ensure that our tax
and benefit services have the guidance, infrastructure, and resources needed for successful delivery.
Contribution to Agency Priorities
This program activity supports all priorities within this organization.
In support of this priority, in 2008-2009 we accomplished
the following:
As identified in our 2008-2009 Report on Plans
and Priorities
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Human Resources Capacity and Capability: The Agency
Workforce Plan is a key element of our planning strategy and has three distinct themes:
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1 – Knowledge Transfer and Succession Planning:
In addition to our EC succession planning activities, in March 2009 we further strengthened our human resources
planning capacity by implementing the Non-EC Succession Planning Guidelines. These guidelines are aligned
with our Competency-Based Human Resources Management (CBHRM) approach and reinforce the importance of succession
planning activities in support of future business requirements.
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2 – Management of Employees’ Career and Development and Change
Management: We completed our annual review of both employee and manager performance management
cycles. The results of the review showed increased integration of competencies into performance management
which reinforces our CBHRM approach and contributes to talent management, both drivers of organizational
success. In 2008-2009, 94.5% of our employees had completed individual learning plans, exceeding our target
of 90% and our total investment spent on learning was approximately $170 million.
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3 – Strategic Recruitment and Reduced Time to Staff:
Important and fundamental steps towards advancing our CBHRM regime were taken. This initiative supports
the recommendations outlined by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada as a result of the audit conducted
in 2007-2008.
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Information Technology Solutions and Infrastructure
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In 2008-2009, we sustained our focus on ensuring our IT solutions
were robust, secure, and reliable.
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We maintained notably high levels of availability of our national
systems while concurrently meeting the challenges faced in safeguarding our IT assets from accidental or
deliberate security threats. We replaced certain existing mainframe computers to allow for the rapid expansion
of computing capacity to meet our needs. We further advanced our vulnerability assessment and management
capabilities through improved reporting on the health of the security of our entire networked computing
infrastructure. Notably, we reached a key milestone in 2008-2009 with our Network Services Enhancement Project
by finalizing the technical requirement for updated switching technology. Enhancements such as these, coupled
with implementation of our multi-year Managed Distributed Environment Program, addressed shortcomings in
our computing environment.
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The results we have achieved in support of sound comptrollership
strengthen accountability and oversight and promote the efficient and effective use of our financial resources.
In 2008-2009, we made improvements to our financial systems and processes and improved linkages between
CRA resources and the results we achieved.
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Our complete Risk Action Plan, which includes response strategies
and incompasses all 17 identified risks, was finalized and approved by our Board of Management in September
2008.
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During 2008-2009, we implemented the Continuous Controls Monitoring
pilot to support our confidence in the accuracy of our data and transactions.
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For 2008-2009, the Board had asked the Commissioner to evolve the
Board of Management Oversight Framework to include management performance measures and results to assess
the effectiveness of management processes in place. This was completed and the Board is proud to report
that the Assessment of the Agency revealed very positive results for 2008-2009; of the 21 expectations assessed,
the CRA was rated strong for 17 expectations and acceptable
for four.
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For supplementary information on this Program Activity, please visit:
www.cra.gc.ca/annualreport
Section III: Supplementary Information
Statement of Management Responsibility
We have prepared the accompanying financial statements of the Canada Revenue Agency
according to accounting principles consistent with those applied in preparing the financial statements of the Government
of Canada. Significant accounting policies are set out in Note 2 to the financial statements. Some of the information included
in the financial statements, such as accruals and the allowance for doubtful accounts, is based on management’s best estimates
and judgments, with due consideration to materiality. The Agency’s management is responsible for the integrity and objectivity
of data in these financial statements. Financial information submitted to the Public Accounts of Canada and included
in the Agency’s Annual Report is consistent with these financial statements.
To fulfill its accounting and reporting responsibilities, management maintains
sets of accounts which provide records of the Agency’s financial transactions. Management also maintains financial management
and internal control systems that take into account costs, benefits, and risks. They are designed to provide reasonable
assurance that transactions are within the authorities provided by Parliament, and by others such as provinces and territories,
are executed in accordance with prescribed regulations and the Financial Administration Act, and are properly recorded
to maintain the accountability of funds and safeguarding of assets. Financial management and internal control systems are
reinforced by the maintenance of internal audit programs. The Agency also seeks to assure the objectivity and integrity
of data in its financial statements by the careful selection, training, and development of qualified staff, by organizational
arrangements that provide appropriate divisions of responsibility, and by communication programs aimed at ensuring that
its regulations, policies, standards, and managerial authorities are understood throughout the organization.
The Board of Management is responsible for ensuring that management fulfills its
responsibilities for financial reporting and internal control and exercises this responsibility through the Audit Committee
of the Board of Management. To assure objectivity and freedom from bias, these financial statements have been reviewed by
the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Management. The Audit Committee is independent of management and meets
with management, the internal auditors, and the Auditor General of Canada on a regular basis. The auditors have full and
free access to the Audit Committee.
The Auditor General of Canada conducts an independent audit and expresses opinions
on the accompanying financial statements.
Approved by:
William V. Baker
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
James Ralston
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Commissioner, Finance and Administration
Introduction
This section of the CRA
Departmental Performance Report 2008-2009 provides the details of the Agency’s resource management performance
for the purpose of reporting to Parliament on the use of appropriations in 2008-2009. This complements the information provided
in the spending profile sections under each Program Activity and satisfies the reporting requirements set for departmental
performance reports.
Financial reporting methodologies
The CRA’s funding is provided
by Parliament through annual appropriations (modified cash accounting basis) and the
CRA reports its expenditures and performance to Parliament, together with
details on the management of Parliamentary appropriations on the same basis. In addition to the above reporting requirements,
the CRA is also required to prepare its annual financial statements in
accordance with the accounting principles applied in preparing the financial statements of the Government of Canada (full
accrual accounting basis). Accordingly, the audited Statement of Operations – Agency Activities that can be found on the
Canada Revenue Agency website at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/nnnl/menu-eng.html
includes certain items such as services received without charge from other government departments and federal agencies.
A reconciliation can be found on the CRA website at
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/nnnl/menu-eng.html.
Activities of the Agency
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(in thousands of dollars)
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The Financial Statements – Agency Activities reports $3,804.9 million as total
Parliamentary appropriations used (Note 3 b in the CRA Annual
Report to Parliament 2008-2009 shows the reconciliation to the net cost of operations). The difference from the $4,198.7
million reported in this section is explained by four items reported in the Financial Statements – Administered Activities:
the payments to provinces under the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, $180.5 million; the Children’s
Special Allowance, $211.8 million; the payments under the Energy Costs Assistance Measures Act, $0.5 million, and
the Relief For Heating Expenses, $0.9 million (part of Vote 1, Program Expenditures).
Overview
For 2008-2009, Parliament approved $3,737.4 million through the Main Estimates,
as shown in CRA’s 2008-2009 Report on Plans and Priorities.
The 2008-2009 Main Estimates were adjusted to include:
- $180.5 million for the Statutory Payments related to the 2006 Canada/US
Softwood Lumber Agreement;
- $134.9 million for the carry-forward from 2007-2008;
- $84.0 million for maternity and severance payments;
- $74.5 million for the single administration of corporate tax for the Province
of Ontario;
- $58.3 million for increased Respendable Revenue mainly for information technology
services provided to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA);
- $46.0 million for Collective Agreements;
- $33.1 million for Budget measures arising from the 2007 and 2008 Federal
Budgets;
- $22.0 million transferred from Public Works and Government Services Canada
(PWGSC) for accommodation services;
- $19.9 million for Budget measures arising from the 2007 Economic Statement;
- $7.1 million for the Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program;
- $6.0 million for the Government advertising programs;
- $2.7 million for Court Awards and Crown Assets Disposal;
- $1.2 million transferred from Public Health Agency for the advertising campaign
on the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit;
- $0.5 million for the payments under the Energy Costs Assistance Measures
Act;
- $1.1 million for Crown Agents across Canada – Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions; and
- $0.2 million for other minor adjustments.
These increases were offset by the following reductions:
- $17 million for the employee benefit plans costs;
- $14.2 million for private collection agencies;
- $7.1 million for statutory Children’s Special Allowance payments; and
- $0.4 million transferred to the Treasury Board Secretariat for the continued
implementation of the Public Service Modernization Act and to the Public Service Human Resources Management
Agency to support the National Managers’ Community.
This resulted in total approved authorities of $4,370.7 million for 2008-2009,
representing an in-year increase of 16.9% over the Main Estimates.
Of the $4,370.7 million total authority,
CRA’s actual spending totalled $4,198.7 million resulting in $172.0 million
remaining unexpended at year-end. After deducting unused resources related to the proposed Offshore Trusts initiative and
Public Opinion Research savings, the remaining $147.1 million is available for use by the Agency in 2009-2010. This amount
represents 3.4% of the total authority.
The $147.1 million carry forward to 2009-2010 will be directed primarily to selected
strategic investments related to:
- Major project and infrastructure spending (Compliance Systems Redesign, Tax
Free Savings Account, Major Tenant Services and Information Technology Infrastructure);
- Special purpose funding (Softwood Lumber, Charities Partnership and Outreach
Program, Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario, Ministère du Revenu du Québec for the Administration of the GST);
and
- Other operational and workload pressures.
Revenues administered by the Agency
Total revenues administered by the CRA
totalled some $287.5 billion, a decrease of 1.8% from the $292.9 billion administered in 2007-2008.
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(in thousands of dollars)
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Provincial, Territorial Governments and First Nations
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Financial Highlights
For the period ending March 31, 2009
Statement of Financial Position
(in thousands of dollars)
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Total Liabilities and net Liabilities
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For the period ending March 31, 2009
Statement of Operations
(in thousands of dollars)
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There are three significant program administration changes which have influenced
the results in the Financial Statements.
1. Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario
Under the Memorandum of Agreement Concerning a Single Administration of Ontario
Corporate Tax signed on October 6, 2006, the Governments of Canada and Ontario agreed to transfer the administration of
Ontario corporate income taxes from the Ontario Ministry of Revenue (OMoR)
to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) starting in the 2009 taxation year.
The CRA received $210.5 million of Federal Government funding over four
years (2006-07 to 2009-10) for developmental and transitional costs relating to this initiative. Of this amount, $61.3 million
was spent in fiscal year 2008-2009.
To date, the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario initiative has met all its
key milestones. The CRA began receiving blended federal and provincial
installment payments from corporations in February 2008. On April 3, 2008, the majority of the administration of Ontario’s
corporate income tax was transferred to the CRA for taxation years prior
to 2008. The CRA started providing integrated audits and other related
activities, such as rulings, interpretations, objections and appeals for 2008 and prior taxation years. Over 300
OMoR employees transferred to the
CRA to assist with this additional workload.
All necessary agreements are now in place for the
CRA to administer the harmonized T2 Corporation Income Tax Returns, starting
in 2009.
2. Investment in Information Technology (IT) systems
Over the course of fiscal year 2009, the
CRA had several large-scale projects that required substantial investments
in the development of IT systems. Combined with the acquisition of
IT hardware, the Agency has invested $144 million in
IT related capital assets this fiscal year.
The value of these new capital assets has been offset by slightly higher depreciation
in the year. Large-scale IT projects, by nature, generally require multi-year
investments. These incremental investments add to the overall capital assets of the
CRA as they occur, however, the associated depreciation of these assets
only commences once a project is completed and the system enters production. This contributed to the increase of
CRA’s depreciation in fiscal year 2009 as completed systems entered production
mode and became eligible for depreciation. The total depreciation claimed by CRA
in 2009 was $88 million.
The following figure outlines investments in information technology that have
been accounted for as capital assets in the last four years.
Figure 12: Information Technology Investment in Capital Assets
3. Increase in non-tax revenue
The CRA financial statements
demonstrate a noticeable increase in non-tax revenue of $58 million. The increase is attributable to the provision of
IT services to the Canada Border Services Agency and administration fees
charged to the province of Ontario relating to the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario and to the province of British
Columbia for the British Columbia Climate Action Tax Credit and Dividend.
Analysis of Net Cost of Operations
The Agency’s 2008-2009 net cost of operations increased by $348 million from 2007-2008.
Agency expenses totalled $4,434 million in 2008-2009 (2007-2008 – $4,028 million). When adjusting for non-tax revenue of
$538 million (2007-2008 – $480 million), the net cost of operations amounts to $3,896 million, as illustrated below:
Table 1: Details on the net cost of operations
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(in thousands of dollars)
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IT equipment and
services
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Transportation and communications
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Professional and business services excluding
IT
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Federal sales tax administration costs – Province of Quebec
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Financial Highlights Chart
The Agency’s expenses are composed of 73% in personnel expenses (salaries, other
allowances and benefits) and 27% in non-personnel expenses, as illustrated in the figure below.
Personnel expenses are the primary drivers for the Agency. A number of factors
contributed to the net increase of $322 million for this type of expenses in 2008-2009. These include salary revisions pursuant
to collective agreements provisions, the cost of other allowances and benefits, and increases in the staff complement due
to new initiatives, such as the Corporate Tax Administration for Ontario and others announced in recent Federal Budgets.
In total, non-personnel expenses increased by $84 million. Significant elements
of non-personnel expenses are made up of accommodations, transportation and communications expenses, which are, for the
most part, linked to personnel expenses. The growth of $45 million in information technology costs are linked to increased
amortization charges, investment projects, and infrastructure growth and renewal. Federal Goods and Services Tax administration
costs by the Province of Québec have returned to more normal levels compared to the previous fiscal year in which the Province
incurred higher costs related to the upgrade of their information technology systems.
Figure 13: Total Expenses by Type
Audited and Unaudited Financial Statements
For supplementary information on the Agency’s Audited and Unaudited Financial
Statements, please visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/nnnl/menu-eng.html
Electronic Tables
The following tables can be found on the
TBS web site at
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dpr-rmr/st-ts-eng.asp.
Table 1: Sources of Respendable and Non-Respendable Revenue
1.1: Respendable Non-Tax Revenue
1.2: Non-Respendable Non-Tax Revenue
Table 2: User Fees / External Fees
2.1 a):
User Fees Act – Advance Income Tax Ruling Fee
2.1 b): Policy on Service Standards for External Fees – Advance Income Tax Ruling
Fee
2.2 a):
User Fees Act – Taxation Statistical Analyses and Data Processing
Fee
2.2 b): Policy on Service Standards for External Fees – Taxation Statistical
Analyses and Data Processing Fee
2.3 a):
User Fees Act – Access to Information Processing Fee
2.3 b): Policy on Service Standards for External Fees – Access to Information
Processing Fee
Table 3: Details on Project Spending
Table 5: Details on Transfer Payment Programs (TPPs)
5.1: Children’s Special Allowance payments (
CSA) (Statutory)
5.2: Payments to Provinces under the
Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge
Act, 2006 (Statutory)
Table 8: Sustainable Development Strategy
Table 9: Green Procurement
Table 10: Response to Parliamentary Committees and External Audits
Table 11: Internal Audits and Evaluations
Rating Our Data Quality
In conjunction with the performance results ratings, we also assign each indicator
a data quality rating.
For each indicator we use consistent approaches in evaluating the information
derived from our data collections systems and all other sources. We rely upon CRA
managers to vouch for the completeness of the records for data integrity purposes (i.e., data belongs to the same category,
is collected for the same period, and by the same method). We examine data for relevance, formulas for accuracy, and other
factors that must be considered. We also use comparable information from prior years for the purpose of historical comparison,
which often appears in the CRA Departmental Performance Report.
To ensure consistency, we perform the following tasks to verify that the information reported in our numerous reports is
valid, reliable, and is accompanied by appropriate evidence:
- Validation: This is a process of verification to ensure that the data meets
the requirements for its intended purposes. We review and evaluate data for completeness and plausibility (accuracy,
timeliness, interpretability, coherence). We also identify contact information, check calculations, confirm system reliability
(verifying the source of information), and note and address any errors.
- Data quality assessment: We apply a data quality checklist and review prior
years’ data to assess the quality of data for each indicator.
- Electronic filing system: We store data in a database for easy reference
and further analysis for other purposes.
- Physical filing system: We maintain physical files of the evidence collected
from all sources to provide validation and assurance that our data quality ratings are accurate and supported.
We always endeavour to use the most appropriate and reliable data when evaluating
our results. There are mainly two data sources for the CRA
Departmental Performance Report: administrative data (normally communicated in aggregate or after some simple calculations
are performed on them) and survey data. All data sources are validated for accuracy and a data quality rating of good, reasonable
or weak as categorized below is applied to each indicator.
We believe that these three levels of data quality ratings provide a reasonable
assessment of the reliability of the data. Generally, our data sources provide reliable information. In situations where
the supporting data is too imprecise to draw firm conclusions, it is reflected in the data quality rating.
Data Quality Ratings
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Results rating based on management judgment supported by
an appropriate level of accurate information (including management estimates) obtained from reliable
sources or methods.
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Results rating based on management judgment supported, in
most cases, by an appropriate level of accurate information (including management estimates) obtained
from reliable sources or methods.
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Significant gaps in robustness of results information;
results rating based on management judgment supported by entirely or predominantly qualitative information
from informal sources or methods.
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Service Standards at the CRA
Our service standards regime is a vital and integral part of our planning, reporting,
and performance management processes. Meeting our service standards targets demonstrates that we are responsive to the needs
of taxpayers and benefit recipients. This helps establish credibility in our operations and contributes to increasing the
level of confidence that Canadians can place in government.
For supplementary information on the Agency’s Service Standards, please visit
www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/nnnl/menu-eng.html
The CRA Governance
Structure
Board Membership
The Board of Management of the Canada Revenue Agency comprises 15 members appointed
by the Governor in Council. They include the Chair, the Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, a director nominated by
each province, one director nominated by the territories, and two directors nominated by the federal government. Members
of the Board bring a private-sector perspective and business approach to management and, in this regard, have been championing
a significant agenda for change within the CRA.
The following list shows the Board membership as of March 31, 2009.
Organizational Structure