Statement by the Taxpayers' Ombudsman on the release of the Annual Report 2016-2017

"Today, I am pleased to publish my latest annual report on the results achieved by my office for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.

Service delivery is one of the most important things we seek from government bodies and it affects us daily. Service from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is not just about being professional and courteous. It is about ensuring taxpayers have the information they need to confidently self-assess their taxes. It is about fairness. It is about the people who are receiving the service. Service is about all of these things, and more.

During the past fiscal year, we worked on being proactive. We proactively worked on improving our processes so we can improve our own service too. While we deal reactively with individual complaints we receive about the service provided by the CRA, we proactively seek opportunities to find out about service issues. Accordingly, we created a new mechanism to request a change in service, called a Request for Service Improvement, which will allow us to raise potential service improvements that are not specifically part of an individual complaint, do not require a systemic examination and recommendation to the Minister of National Revenue, but may impact more taxpayers.

I am proud of the efforts made by my Office to reach out to taxpayers and the organizations helping them. Serving taxpayers in the resolution of disputes between them and the CRA is a significant undertaking that ensures fairness for all.

On behalf of my Office, I acknowledge the CRA’s continued commitment to ensure the issues raised by my Office are addressed in a professional and timely manner. Sharing a common goal of improving service to Canadian taxpayers, my Office and the CRA will continue to engage in open communication in recognition of taxpayer rights, mutual respect, and fairness.”