Summary of the Corporate Business Plan 2013-2014 to 2015-2016

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2 [assisting taxpayers]

[total planned spending]

(Footnote 1) The Planned spending in 2014-2015 and subsequent years does not include a forecast of disbursements to the provinces for theSoftwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, which is not yet available ($280M in 2012-2013 and $283M in 2013-2014).

[introduction]

Voluntary compliance and self-assessment are fundamental to the sustainability of Canada's tax system. Taxpayers are expected to determine their tax liability, submit information, file returns when required, and pay amounts due on time. Often taxpayers ask a representative to help them meet these obligations. This chapter outlines the tools, information, and services that the CRA provides to make it as easy as possible for taxpayers and their representatives to do business with the CRA and get it right from the start. Our activities for assisting taxpayers and representatives include:

• providing information through our Web site, outreach, and social media that is tailored to the needs of different types of taxpayers;
• enabling taxpayers and their representatives to self-serve through online tools like My Account, My Business Account, and Quick Access;
• processing returns and payments quickly and accurately; and
• providing early certainty to taxpayers through our written rulings and technical interpretations on how legislation applies to specific circumstances.

"Enhancing the ability of taxpayers to interact with the CRA and meet their tax obligations."

[what we want to achieve]

To make it easy for those who want to comply to do so, by providing services that are tailored to the needs of taxpayers and their representatives.

[strategic context]

In a recent study commissioned by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the World Bank, it was found that Canada ranked eighth out of 185 economies worldwide for ease of paying taxes (Footnote 1). The CRA, as Canada’s tax administrator, is central to maintaining and improving this result, and we will continue to seek ways to reduce red tape and the compliance burden on taxpayers.

(Footnote 1 For more information about Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the World Bank study, go to www.pwc.com/gx/en.)

New technologies are changing the way Canadians interact, seek information, and do business. These changes are creating new demands and expectations for our services. Canadians expect government to provide similar levels and channels of service as the private sector. While traditional channels like the telephone and mail remain important, usage of online services dominates and is expected to continue to grow. The CRA was an early pioneer of e-government and continues to build its range of online information and transactions. Taxpayers and representatives are increasingly turning to e-services to do business with the CRA: in 2011-2012, the number of businesses enrolled in My Business Account increased by 28%, and the number of online business accounts accessed by representatives grew by 59%. Mandatory e-filing for commercial tax preparers will be introduced in 2013. We expect it will greatly accelerate the growth of online filing for both individual and corporate tax returns.

Online, interactive services are key to achieving the CRA's strategic direction of providing an integrated service experience to taxpayers and representatives. Expanding the range of taxpayer-specific information and transactions means that individuals and businesses can self-serve when and where they choose. The challenge for the CRA will be to design services that respond to Canadian's expectations for convenience and simplicity, while maintaining the high level of security and reliability that has always been the CRA's top priority. Our corporate research program is helping us to identify the remaining obstacles to online filing so we can improve services in the future.

The CRA has laid out a clear agenda to get more taxpayers to use e-services. Our commitment to efficiency means that, as we invest in improving the online experience, we must continually review and realign our other service offerings. We remain committed to providing access through many channels but recognize that some services that have seen consistently declining use in recent years will no longer be sustainable. As we rationalize our services, discontinuing services like TELEFILE and counter enquiries, we will ensure that taxpayers are informed and supported in choosing from the other options available.

Our telephone service will continue to be an important means of communicating with the CRA. Whatever channel a taxpayer or representative selects, our goal is to address most problems, queries, or transactions the first time a taxpayer contacts the CRA.

As we work on providing a more integrated service experience, we will need to develop our insight into the needs and preferences of taxpayers and representatives, so that we can tailor services and proactively offer support to help taxpayers comply. Our focus on business intelligence will include exploring the use of analytics and research to improve services.

[our core activities]

providing information

Voluntary compliance depends on individuals and businesses being able to easily find and understand information about their tax obligations and how to comply with them. The CRA will continue to use several channels to provide information to taxpayers and representatives.

The CRA's Web site is the primary channel for providing quick and accessible general information to taxpayers and their representatives. We maintain 155,000 pages of information, which are regularly updated, and in 2011-2012 we received 87.4 million visits to our Web site. We also offer information through social media, online webinars, as well as information sessions on subjects such as registering as a charity or for scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) tax credits. Taxpayers or representatives who choose to access more individualized service can speak directly with a call centre agent or write to the CRA.

While our phone service continues to be one of the preferred service channels for many taxpayers, we recognize that social media is a popular way to receive simple information. In response, the CRA has created YouTube videos about preparing income tax and benefit returns. In addition, we have used Twitter to provide short updates and alerts for followers.

Over the planning period, we will evolve how we provide information by:

• expanding the number and range of online videos and webinars; and
• increasing the use of social media platforms like YouTube and Twitter.

early certainty on complex transactions

In addition to offering general information to individual taxpayers, we provide detailed material on how tax laws apply in specific situations, and decide on the tax treatment in advance of certain business transactions. Businesses that are involved in scientific research can access specialized advisory services to help determine if they are eligible for scientific research and experimental development claims. Corporations carrying out international transactions can get advance transfer pricing arrangements for transactions between related companies, giving certainty that the approach complies with Canada's tax laws. Corporations and individuals can request income tax and GST/HST rulings in advance of completing specific transactions. These services help taxpayers and their representatives determine how complex tax rules should be interpreted in their circumstances.

Business transactions often take place quickly, are complex, and involve large sums. Clarity about how GST/HST will apply or how transactions will affect income tax lets businesses know that they can proceed with the confidence that they are complying fully with their tax obligations. Given these circumstances, it is important that our information be proactive, timely, accurate and easily accessible.

High-quality, accessible, technical information provided in a timely fashion allows for greater early certainty and supports voluntary compliance. High levels of voluntary compliance are essential to the efficiency and effectiveness of our tax system. Our income tax and GST/HST rulings functions are advancing innovative approaches to providing technical information. We are launching Income Tax Folios, a Web-based product that will increase the relevance and accessibility of the technical information we provide to taxpayers and their representatives. These new Folios will be organized by topic and will take advantage of the latest Web functionality. We will consult tax professionals to ensure we are working on folios that are most important and relevant to taxpayers and their intermediaries. We are also engaging tax intermediaries under an External Contributor Framework to help us draft some of the folios. This strategy will help us to better anticipate information needs.

Legislation is constantly changing and taxpayers and their representatives now have greater access to technical information than ever before. As a result, the questions and issues we face are increasing in sophistication. As tax professionals become more highly specialized, they expect CRA employees to maintain a similar high degree of technical expertise. To respond to these needs, the CRA is committed to providing staff with relevant, timely, and accessible training and knowledge-sharing. We are promoting greater collaboration between different programs in the CRA and stakeholders to make it easier to share business intelligence and foster a better understanding of taxpayers' and representatives’ needs and expectations.

Over the planning period, we will:

• work collaboratively with stakeholders such as tax intermediaries to improve program and service delivery; and
• expand our use of Web technologies to facilitate employee collaboration, interactive learning, and knowledge transfer in order to ensure our people maintain the knowledge and skills they require.

e-services

The CRA has established a strong foundation in e-services and continues to seek ways to expand the range of functions that taxpayers and representatives can carry out online, as well as to make these services as simple and intuitive as possible. Over the next three years, the CRA will introduce three significant new online features:

• e-Documents;
• e-Delivery; and
• e-Payments.

e-Documents will offer a secure method for taxpayers and their representatives to transmit or submit supporting documentation and receipts to the CRA.

e-Delivery will enable us to electronically inform taxpayers that they have correspondence or a request from the CRA that they need to view through a secure portal. e-Delivery will save on postage costs and enable us to contact taxpayers more efficiently. This translates into increased early certainty and faster resolution of tax issues for both the taxpayer and the CRA.

e-Payment will allow us to increase the number of channels taxpayers can use to pay their tax amounts. e-Payments include electronic pre-authorized debits that will authorize the CRA to withdraw a predetermined payment amount directly from a taxpayer's account at a Canadian financial institution on a predetermined date.

Other enhancements to My Business Account include displaying balances such as non-capital losses and refundable dividend tax on hand for the last five tax year-ends. We will enhance our capacity to accept different types of returns and increase the number of forms that can be issued. We believe that these improvements will help simplify the tax system for businesses.

Beginning in January 2013, tax preparers who are paid to prepare more than 10 income tax returns in a year will have to file them electronically. This new requirement applies to both T1 individual income tax and benefit returns and T2 corporation income tax returns for 2012 and later tax years. This change is in line with our strategic direction to move more taxpayers and representatives to electronic services.

We will ensure that we have the information technology systems to support reliable, secure e-services. Our project to modernize T1 (individual income tax) systems will support the advancement of electronic service delivery, client self-service, and the transformation of internal business processes.

Over the planning period, we will:

• expand e-Documents to the individual T1 population in 2013;
• introduce e-Delivery to My Business Account (in 2013), Represent a Client (in 2014), and My Account (in 2015); and
• implement pre-authorized debits for businesses in 2014.

[conclusion]

We will strengthen service to Canadians by capitalizing on technological innovations that allow taxpayers and their representatives to access our information and services electronically while maintaining alternative channels for those who are unable or do not want to use e-services. We will work to make our services easy to use and tailored to the needs of specific taxpayers or groups of taxpayers. We will use business intelligence to inform our efforts to help taxpayers get it right from the start, and maintain our technical capacity to deal with complex transactions. Reducing red tape and simplifying service for small business will be a particular focus, but we will maintain our commitment to service for all taxpayers.

[our performance indicators for assisting taxpayers]

We use the following indicators to assess whether we are achieving our core business outcome.

(Footnote 1) Source: Performance Measurement Framework 2013-2014, except for rate of electronic service offering usage.

(Footenote 2) The CRA has previously identified an upward trend as the target for these indicators. We expect to adjust the annual target year to year to ensure it reflects a challenging but achievable objective.

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