Raison d'être, mandate, and role
Raison d'être, mandate, and role
Raison d'être
The Minister of National Revenue is responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA administers tax, benefits, and related programs, and ensures compliance on behalf of governments across Canada, thereby contributing to the ongoing economic and social well-being of Canadians. The CRA processes hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes and issues billions of dollars in benefit and credit payments annually.
Mandate and role
The CRA's mandate is to make sure Canadians:
- pay their required share of taxes
- receive their rightful share of benefits
In fulfilling its core responsibilities, the CRA administers the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, and the Excise Act; collects taxes on behalf of provinces and territories; collects certain non-tax debts for the federal government; and administers legislation relating to the Canada Pension Plan and the Employment Insurance program.
For more general information about the CRA, see the "Supplementary information" section of this report. For more information on the CRA's organizational mandate letter commitments, see the Minister's mandate letter from the Prime Ministerii.
TO FULFILL OUR CORE RESPONSIBILITIES
Tax
To ensure that Canada's self-assessment tax system is sustained by providing taxpayers with the support and information they need to understand and fulfill their tax obligations, and by taking compliance and enforcement action when necessary to uphold the integrity of the system, offering avenues for redress whenever taxpayers may disagree with an assessment/decision
Benefits
To ensure that Canadians obtain the support and information they need to know what benefits they may be eligible to receive, that they receive their benefit payments in a timely manner, and have avenues of redress when they disagree with a decision on their benefit eligibility
TO DELIVER RESULTS
Tax
Canadians comply with tax obligations, non-compliance is addressed, and Canadians have access to appropriate mechanisms for resolving disputes
Benefits
Canadians receive their rightful benefits in a timely manner
WE CONTRIBUTE TO
Government-wide priorities
- Government services and operations
- Strong middle class
- Fair and open government
Ministerial priorities
- Improve service to Canadians to ensure the CRA is fair, helpful, and accessible
- Crack down on tax evaders and work with international partners to adopt strategies to combat tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance
- Work with the Minister of Finance to clarify the rules regarding political activities for registered charities, in recognition of the valuable contribution they make to public policy and debate
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