Section II: Analysis of program activities by strategic outcome

Strategic outcome

PA1 spending

Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada's revenue base is protected.

Program activity 1: Taxpayers and business assistance

Program activity description

2011-2012 financial resources
(thousands of dollars)
Planned spending
Total authorities
Actual spending
Footnote 1
408,190
535,703
530,542
Excludes amount deemed appropriated to Shared Services Canada.
2011-2012 human resources
(full-time equivalents)
Planned
Actual
Difference
4,275
4,067
208
Program activity performance summary
Expected results
Performance indicators
Targets
Actual results
Taxpayers, businesses and registrants have access to timely and accurate tax information products and services
Percentage of 16 service standards in force for taxpayer and business assistance that meet targeted performance standard
100%
Met
Percentage of accurately updated internal reference materials for taxpayer services and charities agents
100%
Met
Non-compliance with applicable legislation by organizations and businesses administering and/or producing registered plans, charities, and excise dutiable products is detected and addressed
Percentage of charities, registered plans, and commodity audits and activities completed compared to planned
90%
Met

Performance summary and analysis of program activity

Providing information

Web site

The CRA's Web site is our primary channel for providing general information to taxpayers and their representatives. We maintain 155,000 pages of information, which are regularly updated. We also actively search out best practices in Web site management and apply them where feasible and appropriate for our site.

Outreach

In 2011-2012, the CRA continued to offer a variety of channels for providing information to taxpayers, such as face-to-face information sessions and webinars, which are Internet-based, interactive presentations. These offer taxpayers important information about starting a small business, registering for a GST/HST account, payroll requirements, preparing T4 slips, and more. They are also available for charities, scientific research and experimental development programs, tax preparers, and tax professionals. We also offer taxpayers a number of online videos about CRA programs and initiatives. We have been expanding the range of information that is available online so that taxpayers can get the information they need when they need it, from their home or office.

In 2011-2012, we:

Social media

The CRA has been steadily building its capacity to offer information through popular social media tools such as YouTube and Twitter. During this year's tax season, we expanded the use of social media. This included tweeting news releases, tax tips, and notices of conviction for tax evasion as well as guiding audiences to content on our Web site. Our messages are commonly re-tweeted to a wider audience, which has further increased the number of CRA followers.

In November, we launched a pilot project to progress from merely sharing messages on Twitter to interacting with followers. We began answering questions and offering assistance by tweeting links to our Web site. Through this exchange, we provided information on more than 20 topics ranging from tax credits to changes of address to finding the nearest tax services office.

We also continued to use CRA's YouTube channel to share informative videos about new tax credits like the children's art tax credit and our Netfile service.

Taxpayer interactions

Telephone services

The CRA's telephone services provide general information to taxpayers, and also help with more complex enquiries. Taxpayers prefer to find general information themselves on our Web site and then call the CRA if they need further explanation or information on how it applies to their specific circumstances.

Processing services

Early certainty

Some taxpayers ask the CRA for written information on how a tax law applies in a specific context. The CRA provides non-binding, written technical interpretations on a particular aspect of tax law to help taxpayers ensure that they are compliant with the transactions they may be considering. Advance income tax rulings on a specific transaction proposed by a taxpayer are binding on the CRA, provided that the taxpayer undertakes the transaction as described. This technical service helps taxpayers by giving them the information they need to conduct their tax affairs with confidence and certainty in Canada and across international borders.

Meeting our service standard for providing advance income tax rulings within 60 days has proved challenging for the CRA. These rulings often involve issues of great technical complexity and the workload is also often influenced by factors that are beyond the control of the CRA, such as legislative changes and court rulings. To respond, we made changes to the workflow process and revised our service standard for advanced income tax rulings. These changes set a challenging but realistic service standard for the CRA. We will explore opportunities to reduce workload pressures by providing comprehensive online information services that will give taxpayers the degree of early certainty they need to make informed decisions.

Complex intervention

Charities

Registered charities in Canada are tax exempt and can issue charitable donation receipts to donors. To keep these privileges, registered charities must file a registered charity information return and financial statements, and they must operate within the parameters of the Income Tax Act.

Although cases of serious and intentional non-compliance are not widespread, they do exist. Examples include abusive tax shelter schemes as described in the aggressive tax planning section, issuing false receipts, and unacceptable fundraising practices.

The level of compliance by registered charities is high and remains stable in comparison to prior years. The long-term filing rate remains high with the latest data available showing a rate of 98%.

Lessons learned

Consistent with the increased use of technology, the CRA has developed a series of tax information videos, which have the potential to expand the CRA's reach to individuals and businesses across Canada. We carefully monitored our caller volume, and maintained our high caller accessibility levels on all of our enquiries lines using additional resources as required. We did not meet our service standard for issuing advance income tax rulings: we recognize that we need to evolve this service, and our service commitment, to reflect the growing number and complexity of requests. Overall, we will continue to enhance our service offerings while maintaining reliable, secure systems so that taxpayers and businesses are equipped with information and tools needed to navigate and understand an often-complex tax system.

Performance report card
Indicators
Target
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
Rating
Average number of days to issue technical interpretation to taxpayers
90 days (avg)
89
87
90
Met
Average number of days to issue an advance income tax ruling to taxpayers
60 days (avg)
98
102
106
Not met
Percentage of general callers who reach our telephone service
90%
91%
92%
91%
Met
Percentage of business callers who reach our telephone service
90%
93%
92%
90%
Met
Percentage of Canada Child Tax Benefit ( CCTB) callers who reach our telephone service
90%
92%
92%
91%
Met
Percentage of  GST/ HST credit callers who reach our telephone service
90%
91%
91%
90%
Met
Responses to simple charities applications within two months
80%
81.9%
87.5%
85.9%
Met
Responses to regular charities applications within six months
80%
79.8%
96.2%
91.3%
Met
For supplementary information on this program activity, please visit: www.cra-arc.gc.ca/annualreport/

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