departmental performance report 2012-13

[section 4: other items of interest]

[organizational structure]

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[Benefit programs and benefit-related services delivered by the Canada Revenue Agency]

Six federal benefit programs
Canada Child Tax Benefit Children's Special Allowances
Disability tax credit Universal Child Care Benefit - on behalf of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Goods and services tax / harmonized sales tax credit

Working income tax benefit advance payments
Twenty-six ongoing benefit programs for provinces and territories
  1st year   1st year
British Columbia -BC family bonus 1996 Newfoundland and Labrador child benefit 1999
Alberta family employment tax credit 1997 Newfoundland and Labrador seniors' benefit 1999
New Brunswick child tax benefit 1997 Saskatchewan low-income tax credit 2000
New Brunswick working income supplement 1997 Newfoundland and Labrador - mother baby nutrition supplement 2001
Newfoundland and Labrador harmonized sales tax credit 1997 Ontario child benefit 2007
British Columbia - BC earned income benefit 1998 British Columbia low income climate action tax credit 2008
Saskatchewan child benefit 1998 Ontario senior homeowners' property tax grant 2009
Northwest Territories child benefit 1998 Ontario sales tax credit 2010
Northwest Territories - territorial worker's supplement 1998 British Columbia harmonized sales tax credit 2010
Nova Scotia child benefit 1998 Nova Scotia affordable living tax credit 2010
Yukon child benefit 1999 Ontario energy and property tax credit 2011
Nunavut child benefit 1999 Northern Ontario energy credit 2011

Nunavut - territorial worker's supplement

1999 New Brunswick school supplement 2012
Ten one-time payment programs
  1st year   1st year
Relief for heating expenses (federal) 2000 Energy cost benefit (federal) 2005
British Columbia - BC energy rebate  2001 Alberta 2005 resource rebate 2005
Alberta energy tax refund 2001 Ontario home electricity relief 2006
Ontario taxpayer dividend 2001 British Columbia climate action dividend 2008

Nova Scotia taxpayer refund

2003 Ontario sales tax transition benefit 2010
Eighty-five data exchange and data transfer services
Fifty-two income verification data exchanges with provinces to support programs Ten National child benefit supplement data exchanges with provinces and territories to facilitate the calculation of social assistance
Five data transfers with provinces to support top-ups for CRA-administered child benefit programs Two data transfers of income and child information to support administration of the Ontario child care supplement and Quebec family allowance programs

Eight data exchanges and transfers to support the Nova Scotia pharmacare program, the British Columbia low income climate action tax credit, Ontario senior homeowners property tax grant, Ontario sales tax credit, Ontario energy and property tax credit/Northern Ontario tax credit, Ontario trillium benefit, BC harmonized sales tax credit and to assist the ministère du Revenu du Québec in administering the Quebec Taxation Act

Eight data exchanges and data transfers to support federal administration of the Employment insurance family supplement, Guaranteed income supplement, Canada learning bond, additional canada education savings grant, Registered disability savings plan and Canadian disability savings grant and Old age security

[service standards]

Canadians' confidence in the integrity of the tax system is essential to the CRA's success. Meeting our service standards shows that we are answering the needs of taxpayers and benefit recipients. Our service standards tell citizens what level of performance they can reasonably expect from the CRA under normal circumstances. We review our standards and targets every year and update them as needed.

New service standards 2012-2013

In 2012-2013, we introduced three new service standards:

Our service standard results
Service Standard Target 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013
Assessment of returns and payment processing          
Responding to taxpayer-requested adjustments (T1) Complete the adjustment and mail a notice of reassessment within an average of eight weeks, provided all requisite information has been received from the taxpayer 100% 7.2 weeks 7 weeks 7 weeks
Responding to taxpayer-requested adjustments (T1) received by Internet Complete the adjustment and mail a notice of reassessment within an average of two weeks, provided all requisite information has been received from the taxpayer 100% 1.8 weeks 1.8 weeks 2 weeks
Processing T1 individual income tax returns (paper) Process a paper T1 return and mail a notice of assessment and refund, if applicable, in an average of four to six weeks 100% 3.9 weeks 3.9 weeks 4.3 weeks
Processing T1 individual income tax returns (EFILE, TELEFILE, NETFILE) Process electronic T1 returns (EFILE, TELEFILE, and NETFILE) within an average of two weeks of receipt 100% 1.7 weeks 1.6 weeks 1.6 weeks
Processing T3 trust returns Process T3 trust returns within four months 95% 98.5% 98.7% 98.7%
Processing excise tax, excise duty, softwood lumber returns, and air travellers security charge returns Assess excise tax, excise duty, softwood lumber returns, and air travellers security charge returns within 90 days of receipt 95% 97.6% 98.2% 98.4%
Processing GST/HST returns Process GST/HST returns within 30 calendar days of receipt 95% 90.3% 91% 93.8%
Processing T2 corporation income tax returns Assess T2 returns (corporation income tax) within 60 days 90% 94.5% 95.2% 95.2%
Taxpayer and business assistance          
Charities - responding to telephone enquiries Respond to calls in agent queue within two minutes 80% 84.4% 84.2% 86.3%
Charities - responding to simple applications Respond to simple applications for charitable registration within two months, upon receipt of a complete application 80% 87.5% 85.9% 94.5%
Charities - responding to regular applications Respond to regular applications for charitable registration within six months, upon receipt of a complete application 80% 95.5% 91.3% 97.5%
Advance income tax rulings Issue advance income tax rulings within 90 business days of receipt of all essential information from the client 85% N/A N/A 74%
Technical interpretations Issue technical interpretations within 90 business days of receipt of all essential information from the client 85% N/A N/A 83%
GST/HST rulings and interpretations - telephone enquiries Respond to calls in the queue within two minutes 80% 86% 88% 97%
GST/HST rulings and interpretations - written enquiries Respond to written requests for GST/HST rulings and interpretations within 45 business days of receipt in the CRA. This excludes highly technical and precedent and/or policy-setting rulings and interpretations 80% 46.5% 41.9% 81%
Applications to register pension plans Complete a full review and provide a response on applications to register pension plans within 180 calendar days 85% 94.4% 83.9% 90%
Amendments to registered pension plans Review pension plan amendments for compliance with the Income Tax Act within nine months 80% 77.1% 78.7% 81%
Retirement savings plans (applications to register, amend, or terminate) Respond to applications to register, amend, or terminate retirement savings plans within 60 calendar days 80% 86.3% 94.4% 96%
Retirement income funds (applications to register, amend, or terminate) Respond to applications to register, amend, or terminate retirement income funds within 60 calendar days 80% 94% 96.2% 99%
Education savings plans (applications to register, amend, or terminate) Respond to applications to approve, amend, and terminate education savings plans specimen plans within 60 calendar days 85% 92.1% 97.5% 91%
Actuarial valuation reports Review actuarial valuation reports within nine months and provide written approval of the recommended employer contributions 80% 63.4% 50.7% 52%
Deferred income plans - response to written enquiries Respond to written enquiries within 60 calendar days 80% 85.9% 88.3% 98%
Deferred profit sharing plans - reviewing applications Review applications to register new deferred profit sharing plans within 180 days 80% 100% 98.1% 100%
Deferred profit sharing plans - amendments and terminations Review requests to amend and to terminate plans within 270 days 80% 81.4% 93.7% 97%
General enquiries - telephone service level Respond to calls in the agent queue within two minutes 80% 81.8% 80.1% 82%
Business enquiries - telephone service level Respond to calls in the agent queue within two minutes 80% 84.1% 81.2% 82%
Reporting compliance          
Claims - SR&ED tax incentives - refundable claims Process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development in Canada within 120 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim for refundable claims 90% 96.5% 96.5% 96%
Claims - SR&ED tax incentives - non-refundable claims Process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development in Canada within 365 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim for non-refundable claims 90% 96.7% 96.7% 96%
Claims - SR&ED tax incentives - claimant-requested adjustments to refundable claims Process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development in Canada within 240 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim, for refundable claims related to adjustments requested to previously filed income tax returns 90% 96.8% 95.1% 95%
Claims - SR&ED tax incentives - claimant-requested adjustments to non-refundable claims Process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development in Canada within 365 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim, for non-refundable claims related to adjustments requested to previously filed income tax returns 90% 94.9% 94.5% 94%
Claims - video and film tax credits - refundable claims - unaudited Review T2 corporation income tax returns that include claims for the Canadian film or video production tax credit, the film or video production services tax credit, the BC film and television tax credit, the BC production services tax credit, the Manitoba film and video production tax credit, the Ontario film and television tax credit, and the Ontario production services tax credit within 60 calendar days from the date of receipt when no audit action is undertaken 90% 94.8% 95.9% 96.2%
Claims - video and film tax credits - refundable claims - audited Review T2 corporation income tax returns that include claims for the Canadian film or video production tax credit, the film or video production services tax credit, the BC film and television tax credit, the BC production services tax credit, the Manitoba film and video production tax credit, the Ontario film and television tax credit, and the Ontario production services tax credit within 120 calendar days from the date of receipt where audit action is undertaken 90% 91.2% 79% 90.5%
Appeals          
First contact letter for disputes Acknowledge taxpayer disputes within 30 calendar days after we receive them 85% N/A N/A 84% (Footnote 1)
Service complaints - two-day acknowledgement Acknowledge receipt of the complaint within two business days. 80% 96.6% 97.2% 92%
Service complaints - 30-day resolution Resolve the complaint within 30 business days 80% 91.8% 94.5% 94.3%
Problem resolution program - acknowledge receipt Acknowledge receipt of a problem within two business days 95% 95.3% 97.6% 98.2%
Problem resolution program - resolution Resolve the problem within 15 business days. If we cannot (for example, if a case is complex), we will make contact within that time to indicate an anticipated date of resolution 95% 95.3% 97.5% 98.2%
Benefit programs          
Canada child tax benefit enquiries - telephone service level Respond to calls in the agent queue within two minutes 75% 76.4% 76% 78%
GST/HST credit enquiries telephone service level Respond to calls in the queue within two minutes 75% 77% 76.6% 77%
Processing benefit applications and marital status change forms - timeliness Issue a payment, notice, or explanation within 80 calendar days 98% 98.7% 99% 99.8%
Processing benefit applications and marital status change forms - accuracy Accurately process the appropriate payment and notice and, if necessary, issue a letter requesting additional information 98% 99.1% 97.5% (Footnote 2) 98.7%
Responding to benefit and credit enquiries - timeliness Respond to written enquiries and telephone referrals from call centers within 80 calendar days 98% 94.9% 98.1% 98%
Responding to benefit and credit enquiries - accuracy Respond to written enquiries and telephone referrals from call centers, with correct information, and accurately process new recipient information, including issuing a payment, notice, or letter 98% 98.6% 98.8% 98.1%
Validation and control - results of review Inform you of the result of our review within 45 days after we receive the information requested 90% 96.4% 98.5% 99%
Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative - timeliness (peak) Process your request to authorize or cancel a representative received during peak tax time (mid-March to mid-July) within 20 business days of receipt by the CRA 90% 87.1% 89.8% (Footnote 2) 99.2%
Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative - accuracy (peak) Accurately process your request to authorize or cancel a representative; if necessary, we will send you a letter requesting additional information 98% 99.4% 99.7% 99.4%
Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative - timeliness (non-peak) Process your request to authorize or cancel a representative received during non-peak tax time, (mid-July to mid-March) within five business days of receipt by the CRA 90% 78.2% 88% 95.5%
Processing a request to authorize or cancel a representative - accuracy (non-peak) Accurately process your request to authorize or cancel a representative; if necessary, we will send you a letter requesting additional information 98% 99% 99.2% 99.7%
Internal services          
Taxpayer requests for statistical tax data Respond to taxpayer requests for statistical data within an average of 30 calendar days 100% 14 days 17 days 14 days

When service standards are expressed in numbers of days, they refer to calendar days, unless otherwise specified.

Results for prior years have been revised based on updated information.

(Footnote 1): The measurement has been revised, affecting comparability with previous-year results, to more accurately report results by calculating the period of time when the first contact letter is sent and received, as opposed to measuring performance once the file has been closed.

(Footnote 2): The result for this service standard was re-stated due to an error in rounding.

Challenges and exceptions

Advance income tax rulings to taxpayers

Standard: Issue advance income tax rulings to taxpayers within 90 business days of receipt of all essential information.

Target: 85%

2012-2013 result: 74%
This service standard was adjusted prior to 2012-2013 to extend the CRA's response window from 60 calendar days to 90 business days. The CRA had not met the prior standard since 2003-2004. Over the past year, resources from the Income Tax Rulings Directorate were devoted to two important initiatives: the development of income tax folios and the national technical capacity building forums. This shift in resources had some impact on the area's capacity to meet its service standard. We believe income tax folios are a long-term investment that will ultimately help us meet our service standard for advance income tax rulings.

figure 1 Total number of advance income tax rulings to taxpayers

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Actuarial valuation reports

Standard: Review actuarial valuation reports within nine months and provide written approval of the recommended employer contributions.

Target: 80%

2012-2013 result: 52%

This service standard continues to be not met and is expected to remain not met through 2013-2014. Steps are being taken to automate the reviews of lower-risk actuarial valuation reports, which is expected to be in place by April 2015.

figure 2 Actuarial valuation reports

 

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New and revised service standards 2013-2014

In 2013-2014, we will be introducing four new service standards in:

We will also be making a revision in assessment of returns and payment processing, T2 corporation income tax returns, which will be broken down into two service standards, one for electronic and one for paper.

[end notes]

[organizational contact information]

Appropriate minister

The Honourable Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, P.C., Q.C., M.P.
Minister of National Revenue

Institutional head

Andrew Treusch,
Commissioner of Revenue and Chief Executive Officer

Constituent act

Canada Revenue Agency Act, [1999, c. 17]

Year of incorporation/commencement

1999

Mandate

The Canada Revenue Agency is responsible for: supporting the administration and enforcement of program legislation; implementing agreements between the Government of Canada and the government of a province, territory, or other public body performing a function of government in Canada; implementing agreements or arrangements between the CRA and departments or other agencies of the Government of Canada; and implementing agreements between the Government of Canada and First Nations governments to administer a tax.

Head office

Connaught building
555 MacKenzie Avenue, 7th floor
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5
Telephone: 613-957-3688
Fax: 613-952-1547
Website: www.cra-arc.gc.ca

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