ARCHIVED - RPP 2006-2007
Canada Revenue Agency
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The Honourable Carol Skelton, P.C., M.P.
Minister of National Revenue
Chapter 1 – Our Operating Environment
Chapter 2 – Agency 2010: A Blueprint for the Future
Chapter 3 – Program Activities
Conclusion by the Commissioner
Appendix A – Board of Management
Appendix B – Organizational Structure
Appendix D – Service Standards
Appendix E – Sustainable Development Strategy
Introductory Notes
In December 2003, the Government announced the transfer of a large portion of the customs function of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) to the newly established Canada Border Services Agency. This transfer was completed on December 12, 2005, when Royal Assent was granted to Bill C-26, An Act to establish the Canada Border Services Agency. As a result of this legislation, the CCRA has legally become the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and will continue its mandate under that name.
Mission
To administer tax, benefits, and related programs and ensure compliance on behalf of governments across Canada, thereby contributing to the ongoing economic and social well-being of Canadians
Vision
The Canada Revenue Agency will be the preferred provider to deliver tax, benefits and related programs for governments across Canada
Values
Message from the Minister
The confidence of Canadians in the Canada Revenue Agency’s fairness and integrity is
fundamental to our success in administering tax and benefit programs on behalf of governments throughout Canada. We earn that confidence through our emphasis on excellence
in service, protection of information, transparency in the way we account for our performance, and fairness in our dealings with taxpayers and benefit recipients.
As Minister of National Revenue, I recognize that high levels of voluntary compliance within Canada’s tax system are rooted in the confidence of Canadians in our fairness, accountability and integrity. My priorities for the Agency will be to maintain and improve upon the current avenues of rights and appeals that provide taxpayers with a sense of confidence and certainty in dealing with the Canada Revenue Agency. As well, the CRA will make additional advances in its collections activities to reassure Canadians that Canada’s tax laws are applied fairly and consistently. This benefits all Canadians and leads to our mutual social and economic well-being.
The CRA is a powerful driver for improving business productivity, lowering the cost of government, simplifying citizens’ interaction with their governments, and ensuring responsible stewardship of taxpayers’ dollars. This is the essence of Agency 2010, an ambitious and innovative change agenda for the CRA, which is described in this report.
The 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities details our objectives and strategies to continue to meet and exceed our performance record. It also includes key tax and benefit initiatives introduced in the May 2006 Federal Budget. The initiatives included in this report will help ensure simpler, more secure, and less costly options for Canadians to meet their tax obligations and receive benefits.
The Honourable Carol Skelton, P.C., M.P.
Minister of National Revenue
Foreword by the Chair
Each year, the Canada Revenue Agency produces a Report on Plans and Priorities outlining its
objectives, strategies, performance expectations, and financial projections for the ensuing three fiscal years. It is with pleasure that I present this first report during
my tenure as Chair of the Board.
Since the Agency was established in 1999, the Board has overseen the implementation of administrative policies and a unique governance regime tailored to the CRA’s mandate to administer tax and benefit programs. Having laid the groundwork, the Agency is now looking to the future. The 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities is based upon our vision of the Agency in 2010, and proposes concrete initiatives that build toward this vision over the next three years.
Essential to the realization of Agency 2010 will be a stronger role for the Board of Management in ensuring transparency and accountability to Parliament, to our clients, and ultimately to Canadians. As part of its responsibility for CRA administrative policies, the Board will continue to enhance its oversight presence to make certain that the Agency exercises competent stewardship of resources, manages risks, and reports clearly on its plans and results.
CRA’s legislated mandate envisioned an Agency that would provide services to other federal departments as well as provincial, territorial, and First Nations government organizations. Building on the strength of its core business expertise, the Agency will expand the services it performs and more firmly establish the Agency as a service provider of tax and benefit services, while reinforcing accountability to our clients and to Canadians.
In order to achieve its mandate, the Agency works toward two strategic outcomes:
- Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected.
- Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments, contributing to the integrity of Canada’s income security system.
These desired outcomes, in concert with the vision for Agency 2010, provide the foundation for this report. This year, as part of our desire to improve transparency and accountability, the report includes concrete deliverables for priority initiatives within each of our seven program activities.
I am pleased to recommend this 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities to the Honourable Carol Skelton, Minister of National Revenue.
Connie I. Roveto, ICD.D
Chair, Board of Management
Management Representation
The 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide for the Preparation of Part III of the 2006-2007 Estimates: Report on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports:
- It adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) guidance;
- It is based on the Agency’s approved Program Activity Architecture (PAA) as reflected in its MRRS;
- It presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced, and reliable information;
- It provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to it; and
- It reports finances based on approved, planned spending numbers from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat in the RPP.
Michel Dorais, ICD.D
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
Canada Revenue Agency
Executive Summary
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has established a solid foundation of performance in tax services and benefit programs, serving 126 clients – federal, provincial, territorial, and First Nations government organizations. Our 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities outlines the strategies and resources we will apply to build on this performance—while leveraging the CRA’s capacity—to implement Agency 2010, a blueprint for the next several years.
The report identifies six strategic challenges to be managed:
- the imperatives of trust, transparency, and accountability;
- demographic trends;
- technological change;
- the evolution of our administrative flexibility as prescribed in the Canada Revenue Agency Act;
- economic conditions; and
- specific compliance challenges.
Our plans to address these challenges are built on a solid and secure foundation: an organization that is efficient, accountable, well-managed, and committed to continually improving how it conducts its business. Our accomplishments as an agency create opportunities for building stronger relationships with our clients: federal, provincial, territorial, First Nations, and other government bodies.
This report identifies how we will strengthen the CRA as a nationwide agency, focusing on three themes:
- a well-defined, modern, and high-performing core business capacity;
- a governance model that reflects the best possible blend of autonomy and accountability; and
- the pursuit of business opportunities which we could deliver on behalf of our clients.
Strong and Modern Core Business
The core business of the CRA will continue to be revenue collection and benefits administration. The initiatives in this report seek to build on our existing capacity in a number of ways:
- Improve service through additional electronic service options on the Internet, more efficient and responsive telephone and in-person services, greater use of high-volume processing technologies, and enhanced outreach, education, and consultation efforts with a focus on small- and medium-sized businesses, charities, disability programs, and targeted taxpayer groups.
- Intensify our risk-based compliance approach, with particular attention to aggressive tax planning, the underground economy, the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) non-compliance and fraud, non-filers/non-registrants and collections, matching of information slips, registration of deferred income plans, appeals, and benefit programs.
- Strengthen our infrastructure by reviewing the “geographic footprint” of our field offices, the delivery of the Appeals program, and developing strategies for workforce change impacts from such initiatives as the assumption of collections work from the federal department of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), modernizing our publishing function, investing to support the integrity of our information technology (IT) systems, and integrating data management systems in program areas such as collections and charities.
- Maintain the foundation of trust in our tax and benefits system and the integrity of our internal management by strengthening our risk management process, conducting security compliance and monitoring reviews, continuing to emphasize the imperative of information confidentiality and privacy, and improving expenditure monitoring.
- Manage human resources and labour relations by implementing our Union-Management Initiative (UMI) nationally, streamlining job classification, and starting to implement our new Agency Classification Standard (ACS).
Mature the Governance Model
This plan calls on the CRA to fully use the powers and authorities given to the CRA by Parliament. Work will include the following:
- Define and strengthen accountabilities and relationships to Parliament, clients, and central agencies.
- Strengthen Agency management practices, for example, by improving our expenditure monitoring capacity, advancing our approach to integrated risk management, implementing a more strategic corporate committee structure, and refining the IT costing/decision model to treat IT as corporate infrastructure supporting the entire CRA and our clients.
Expand Business Opportunities
We believe we can build on our strengths and competitive advantages to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of revenue collection and benefits administration for all levels of government in Canada. To continue progress in providing services to clients and develop into a truly nationwide agency, the plan calls for a range of activities:
- Enhance and expand existing services and data exchange arrangements, including those with HRSD (e.g., Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement, Canada Pension Plan), the Income Verification project, and the Business Number (BN). To an increasing extent, incorporate provincial perspectives and interests into our way of doing business.
- Develop new services for clients, such as the integration of collections operations from other government departments, and pilot projects with Service Canada.
- Articulate our Agency 2010 business model by defining our core business, clients, and program/service approach, and performing market analysis.
- Develop growth strategies and plans, including the first phase of the CRA communication strategy.
- Develop a client relationship management capacity.
Implementation of the Agency 2010 blueprint will proceed within the context of a CRA resource management strategy developed to address three key needs:
- sustaining our core business operations;
- investing strategically to maintain and enhance the integrity of our infrastructure, particularly our IT systems; and
- providing for opportunities to expand services to clients in accordance with our mandate.
While this sets out an ambitious agenda for the future, it also recognizes that most of the $9.6 billion in planned spending over the three planning years will go to daily operations, principally in the areas of taxpayer services, tax and benefit processing, audits and investigations, and revenue collection. We will strengthen performance monitoring in all areas by improving measures related to timeliness, accuracy and accessibility of tax and benefits service, collection of tax debt, levels of compliance, and quality of appeal resolutions. Finally, we will accomplish this while focusing on the priority of implementing new fiscal measures that deliver $20 billion in tax relief over two years. These measures will form the basis for our Annual Report to Parliament.
Chapter 1 – Our Operating Environment
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) operates within a dynamic environment, where societal and technological trends, economic conditions, government policy, and public attitudes can significantly influence the achievement of program objectives. As part of our strategic planning process, we conduct regular environmental scans and maintain a corporate risk inventory to identify and manage key challenges and opportunities at an enterprise level. The results of these assessments are discussed periodically with our Board of Management, which brings a broader public- and private-sector perspective to the management of the CRA.
For this report, six broad strategic challenges were identified:
- the imperative values of trust, transparency, and accountability demanded by Canadians, and by their governments, in dealings with the CRA;
- demographic trends;
- the demands and impacts of technological change;
- advancing the CRA’s legislative flexibilities;
- opportunities and demands coming from the changing economic environment; and
- compliance challenges from aggressive tax planning, tax havens, the underground economy, non-filers/non-registrants and collections as well as the ongoing challenge of maintaining compliance in a self-assessment system.
Imperatives of Trust, Transparency, and Accountability
Trust, transparency, and accountability have always been imperative values at the CRA. This is because of the extent of our public dealings; our collection, accounting, and disbursement of public funds; and the critical role that the values play in supporting the integrity of the tax and benefit systems. Those systems must not only be administered in a fair and effective way, they must be perceived as fair and effective. Any risk to our reputation as an honest and competent manager of money and information imperils the achievement of our operational mandate.
The 2004 CRA Annual Survey found that 81 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “The information that Canadians provide to the CRA is treated confidentially,” while 77 percent supported the statement “The CRA treats taxpayers honestly.” Although results have been relatively strong and consistent over the past several years, they still demand constant effort and attention.
Two challenges stand out. First, the protection of taxpayer and benefit recipient information will continue to be critical to public trust. Tax and benefit administrations—federal, provincial/territorial, First Nations, and in fact, those of other countries—must balance a desire for better access to information with strong and legitimate concerns about privacy and confidentiality. The security of information technology systems and CRA facilities are essential elements in our approach to meeting this challenge.
Second, we are entering a new era in our relationship with provincial, territorial, First Nations and other clients. Understandably, they have come to expect a high level of service and accountability. Providing this requires special attention not only to client-specific program delivery but also to associated monitoring, measurement, reporting, and remediation. All this is needed for us to be truly accountable for the tax and benefit services we carry out on behalf of our clients.
Demographic Trends
It is projected that by 2015 the size of the Canadian workforce will begin to decline, with any net growth due to the participation of new Canadians. Annual immigration is likely to increase from current levels of approximately 225,000. Equally important is to communicate effectively with culturally diverse communities; some of them may lack familiarity with Canada’s tax system and its reliance on self-assessment, or with benefit programs that could assist them in making Canada their home. Since much of Canada’s immigration continues to go to our largest urban centres, these service and outreach challenges will be felt especially by our Pacific, Québec, and Ontario regions.
One of the challenges for the CRA will be to protect corporate memory, maintain technical expertise, and ensure that required professional skills are in place in critical areas such as audit. Supported by focused investments in training and development, the CRA will be able to offer new and existing staff more challenging and rewarding work as the balance of jobs continues to shift from traditional processing activities to work that requires more technical, analytical, and client-relationship competencies. This approach will ensure that the CRA has the required staff in place as experienced managers and staff retire in the coming years.
Technological Change
The CRA is a leader in using information technology to improve service and increase productivity. Effectively managing the impact of the rapid pace of technological change by maximizing its benefits and minimizing its negative effects is a key challenge for the CRA.
Clients and Canadians are demanding electronic service options that are fast and efficient, and that guarantee the privacy and appropriate use of confidential information. The CRA is dependent on technology-based information management to respond to growth in e-commerce and the Internet. CRA employees use data from multiple systems to support decisions; they need a greater capacity to integrate data and assemble it into immediately usable information.
Our key challenge in terms of IT is to maintain the right balance of effort and investment between existing program commitments and creating new or additional capacity to respond to the changing business context of Agency 2010 (discussed in the next chapter). This balance must be achieved while addressing pressures such as the “enterprising” of government and the ever-evolving technological environment. Strategies are required to enhance the continuity of IT services, to modernize security, and to facilitate information and knowledge management.
Another challenge is to improve the corporate focus of our technology investments. There is a need to refine and communicate the IT costing model. The aim is for the funding of IT to be treated more as corporate infrastructure—which ultimately supports the whole of CRA and our clients—rather than being treated as individual projects.
IT solutions will demand new skill sets in the CRA workplace, while eliminating certain manual and data entry processing requirements. The resulting impact on training and staffing must be managed carefully to make technology a net benefit to the organization.
The CRA’s Legislative Flexibility
The CCRA was created in 1999 (on December 12, 2003, the Government transferred the customs function of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency to the Canada Border Services Agency, the Agency continues its operations under the name Canada Revenue Agency/CRA) to improve service, increase administrative efficiency, and establish a closer, more accountable relationship with provinces, territories, First Nations, and other clients. The Canada Revenue Agency Act (CRA Act) was passed to provide the flexibility and authority to explore innovative methods of service and management. The CRA was effectively given full authority for human resources and general administration.
More recently, the Government of Canada has launched initiatives to integrate internal services such as administrative systems and IT infrastructure across federal departments and agencies, while increasing central agency involvement in financial audit. As well, the Service Canada initiative has been launched to provide a single window for most services to the public.
As we move forward, the CRA will maintain its strong and dynamic service delivery capacity. We will continue to be the primary direct service provider for all tax and benefit programs across Canada.
As the next chapter explains, our plans for the CRA rely to a large degree on taking further advantage of the management flexibilities provided for in our founding legislation. These management, governance, and accountability enhancements will make the CRA more efficient and accountable. At the same time, they will contribute to the CRA’s ability to provide innovative products and services to federal, provincial/territorial, First Nations and other clients. Support from our clients for this evolution will help determine the CRA’s direction and pace of change over the planning period and beyond.
Economic Environment
Several aspects of the Canadian and global economies will influence the CRA over the coming years.
Currently, the Canadian economy is strong. The federal government is expected to continue emphasizing productivity as the means to further improve Canada’s economic performance; the CRA-administered Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) credit is one of the tools to encourage a more modern, productive economy.
Internationally, the CRA will increasingly be involved in tax treaty work and other forms of co-operation to support service and compliance. Globalization requires intensified international co-operation, including transparent systems and information-sharing across borders, despite often divergent privacy laws. Canada currently has tax treaties with 83 countries to avoid double taxation, and the CRA often relies on information from national governments to enforce compliance, especially in cases involving tax havens.
Compliance Challenges
Tax compliance is the core of our mandate. It has long been recognized that voluntary compliance and self-assessment are the best, most efficient ways to administer Canada’s tax system. When tax payers do not comply, our strategy is to identify and detect the most serious non-compliance issues and cases, take appropriate action, and encourage future compliance.
The CRA promotes voluntary compliance, which is an effective approach for the majority of Canadians. The CRA also delivers a wide range of programs to protect Canada’s tax base and ensure that Canadians pay their taxes. The CRA has a robust set of checks and balances, including both preventive and detective controls; examples are source deductions, third-party information slip and document matching, risk profiling and scoring, compliance research, examinations, audits, investigations, and prosecutions.
Individual Canadians and businesses want to know that others are paying the taxes they should. Maintaining high levels of taxpayer compliance is a constant challenge since many factors influence compliance. There are also many reasons for non-compliance that, in turn, require tailored programs. The CRA works to identify areas where the risk of non-compliance and the potential loss of revenue are highest, and to understand the contributing factors. We examine socio-economic trends as well as emerging business practices to identify indicators of possible non-compliance. We have also developed sophisticated risk-assessment systems that examine the tax characteristics of Canadian taxpayers to identify and estimate possible non-compliance.
The CRA’s risk-assessment systems and procedures enable us to target compliance activities toward areas of highest risk and to shift resources to these areas. By doing this, we also reduce the cost to compliant taxpayers.
The CRA has identified the following key risk areas: aggressive tax planning (including the abusive use of tax havens); GST/HST compliance (in particular, fraudulent GST refund claims); the underground economy; and non-filers / non-registrants and collections.
The CRA also faces unique challenges in the administration of charities. We have a critical and demanding role under the Charities Registration (Security Information) Act to ensure that charitable dollars are not used for illegal purposes.
While the bulk of our compliance challenges relate to the tax system, we increasingly must manage risks in benefit programs. By informing and educating existing and potential new recipients about their obligations under benefits legislation, and by having a credible enforcement presence based on enhanced risk-based account selection criteria, we aim to ensure that only those entitled get benefit payments.
Conclusion
By continually gathering and assessing intelligence regarding our operating environment and by applying this knowledge through our robust risk management processes, the CRA maintains a high level of integrity and can continue to improve our overall efficiency and effectiveness. The next chapter outlines the directions that the CRA will pursue to address our strategic challenges and opportunities. Chapter 3 describes more specific plans for managing our program activities over the next three years.
Chapter 2 – Agency 2010: A Blueprint for the Future
The Evolution of the CRA
Parliament created the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) in 1999 (on December 12, 2003, the Government transferred the customs function of the CCRA to the Canada Border Services Agency/CBSA) to meet three objectives:
- provide better service to Canadians;
- offer more efficient and effective delivery of government programs; and
- foster closer working relationships with, and better accountability to, provinces and other levels of government for which the CRA delivers programs.
Consolidating service delivery in the CRA reduces government duplication and makes it simpler and easier for individuals and businesses to meet their tax obligations and receive benefits.
The Agency’s unique governance model and powers were designed to help accomplish these objectives. It has a Minister, Board of Management, and Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer, each with distinct responsibilities and accountabilities, and it has been vested with full responsibility for human resources (HR) management, administrative matters, real property, procurement, and contracting.
During its first five years, the Agency focused on implementing the governance model and overhauling HR and administrative policies and systems. The result is that the CRA is now a strong, flexible, efficient, and accountable organization that is well managed. As a consequence, the Agency now has a solid and secure base from which to continue developing into an agency that operates nationwide and serves an increasing number of clients.
This section of the Report on Plans and Priorities sets out “Agency 2010”—a vision for the Agency which will guide our progress and focus our efforts over the next several years.
Agency 2010 – Realizing the Full Potential of Agency
Tax and benefits systems that function well are fundamental to the economic, fiscal, and social health of a nation. Ensuring that these systems are administered as efficiently and effectively as possible is an objective that is shared by all levels of government.
Empowered by unique governance features and authorities, the CRA has become a highly efficient and accountable multi-jurisdictional administrator of tax, revenue, and benefit programs. By operating as the interface between governments and taxpayers and benefit recipients, the CRA has been able to integrate information, improve services to Canadians and lower the cost of administration for governments.
The demand for CRA services has been growing steadily, primarily because the CRA’s competitive advantages makes economic sense for our clients. Taxpayers, especially businesses, find it much more effective to deal with a single payment process or single auditor for all their taxes, benefits and related issues.
In providing the interface between its clients and taxpayers/benefit recipients, the CRA may also work with partners. Partners are defined as: “authorities with whom the Agency collaborates on various issues for mutual benefit or to attain a common objective, but for whom the Agency does not provide a service as defined in its core business activities”. Partners include international associations, treaty partners, foreign countries, and provincial and territorial governments.
The Three Strategic Themes of Agency 2010
In many respects, the CRA is already an organization with a coast-to-coast-to-coast presence and approach to its operations. Relying on a Canada-wide service delivery network and distributed processing operations, the Agency handles revenue collection and benefit administration at the federal level, and within provincial, territorial and First Nations jurisdictions to varying degrees. The Agency intends to further increase its national presence, and enhance its accountability to clients through better reporting performance and increased responsiveness.
This approach will allow the CRA to realize fully the objectives established for the Agency in 1999, and Canadians will benefit from improved and integrated services and more efficient, effective program delivery. As an organization that operates nationwide, the CRA will become the key interface between citizens and their governments and tax and benefits administration will be simplified.
Over the coming years, the CRA will pursue a strategy based on three themes:
1. a core business capacity that is well-defined, modern, and high-performing;
2. a governance model that reflects the best possible blend of autonomy and accountability, rigour and sensitivity; and
3. the pursuit of business opportunities which the Agency could deliver on behalf of its clients.
1. Strong and Modern Core Business
It is imperative that we concentrate on the core business of the Agency, maintain, and where necessary strengthen, the critical elements that support it. The evolution of the Agency can succeed only if its principal focus remains on what it is mandated to do by law, and what it does best.
The core business of the CRA is tax administration, revenue collection, and benefits administration. This is where our expertise lies and where we will concentrate our efforts as we identify opportunities to grow the programs and services that we deliver. Effective compliance and service delivery are key elements to the core business. The Agency will continue to strive for excellence in service delivery and compliance, as we did in the first five years of the Agency’s existence.
To support its core business, the Agency has, over the years, developed particular capacities in:
- efficient and effective high-volume processing;
- state-of-the-art electronic service options;
- strong data management;
- excellence in risk-based compliance; and
- fairness and integrity in administration.
b) Strengthening Infrastructure
The Agency has a large, well-trained, and experienced workforce, extensive regional operations (with 78 percent of its workforce distributed across Canada), one of the largest information technology bases in the country, and a strong management cadre. The CRA infrastructure is the foundation on which our core business is built and operates. Over the next several years, we will further strengthen this infrastructure by:
- investing strategically in technology;
- investing in the skills and development of our workforce, and in a strong management cadre; and
- ensuring that our physical and management infrastructures evolve in line with our business model and service channel strategy for 2010.
These measures will ensure that the Agency has the capacity to deliver high quality and cost effective programs and services. They will also ensure that the CRA can attract, maintain, and retain a highly skilled and motivated workforce.
Taxpayers’ trust in the integrity and fairness of tax administration is critical to our self-assessment system, because without it, non-compliance would certainly increase. Over the next several years, we will continue to give paramount attention and importance to maintaining the integrity and fairness of the tax system. Specifically:
- As part of any new program delivery arrangements with various clients, we will ensure that we fully protect and guard the confidentiality and privacy of information in accordance with Canadian law.
- We will invest in the security of our operational and IT systems.
- We will continue to improve our knowledge of non-compliance and our ability to target areas of highest risk, thereby contributing to the fairness and integrity of the tax system.
- We will reinforce trust in the organization by proceeding with enhancements to the collections program, including proceeding with the Integrated Revenue Collections project, to better manage the level of tax debt.
d) Managing Human Resources and Labour Relations
During its first five years, the Agency completely revamped policies, procedures, systems, and structures in such areas as staffing, classification, compensation, and labour relations. Most of the new systems have been put in place. Over the next several years, a comprehensive Workplace Strategy will be developed and implemented in support of Agency 2010.
The overhaul was undertaken in consultation with the unions. The Agency is working hard at a constructive and respectful relationship with the unions, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) and intends to further strengthen the existing spirit of co-operation across the country through a variety of union-management initiatives.
2. Mature the Governance Model
The CRA has a unique governance model that differs markedly from that of its predecessor, Revenue Canada, as well as the regimes of other federal/provincial departments and agencies. A tax administration such as the CRA needs to demonstrate impartiality in applying legislation, as well as sensitivity to ensure that taxpayers receive the full benefit of the law. It needs to ensure rigour and probity in the handling of public monies and information, and professionalism and accountability.
The governance model assigns roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities to the Minister, Board of Management, and Commissioner/CEO.
- The Minister provides the ultimate challenge function to the Agency (other than through the courts), ensuring that legislation has been applied fairly but with sensitivity, and that taxpayers have received the full benefit of the law. The Minister is also accountable to Parliament for the administration of program legislation.
- The Board of Management is responsible for ensuring the rigour and probity of the CRA’s human resources and administrative systems. It is accountable to Parliament (through the Minister) for the administration of the human resources, administrative, real property, procurement, and contracting authorities that are vested in the Agency.
- As the CRA’s Chief Executive Officer, the Commissioner is accountable to the Minister of National Revenue for the day-to-day administration and enforcement of program legislation that falls under the Minister’s delegated authority. In this regard, the Commissioner is also accountable to the various levels of clients—including provinces and territories—for the programs and legislation administered on their behalf. In addition, the Commissioner is accountable to the Board of Management for the daily management of the CRA, supervision of employees, and implementation of policies and budgets.
The adoption of the CRA’s Governance Model has produced significant results, as documented in our annual reports, and the comprehensive five-year report tabled in Parliament in May 2005. The Auditor General has commented positively on the nature of these reports to Parliament. Accountability to Parliament and the provinces/territories has been greatly enhanced. We have adopted a code of values and ethics that stresses sensitivity in dealings with taxpayers and benefit recipients, and ensures probity and rigour in our internal systems. The Agency is subjected annually to over 135,000 hours of audits from various sources and all the final audit reports are posted on the Agency’s Web Site.
During the next several years, we will:
- further enhance the accountability of the Agency to all its clients through better performance reporting and increased responsiveness to their specific needs.
3. Expand Business Opportunities
The CRA believes that it offers competitive advantages. If seized upon, these will provide citizens with better service, lower cost administration, and more effective compliance.
- As an organization operating in all regions of the country, the Agency has nationally standardized administration and service delivery, which ensures equitable treatment. Throughout Canada, our approach is consistent on matters such as compliance activities, service standards, workflows, information management, IT solutions, and program administration. This approach is beneficial to potential clients: they can be confident that their programs will be administered efficiently and according to the norms and standards they have established.
- The sheer scale and volume of the Agency’s processing and transactions allow us to benefit from significant economies of scale, which we share with our clients. In addition, because of its size, the Agency has the investment capacity to maintain a suite of modern tools, systems, and IT solutions.
- The Agency has a well-deserved reputation for depth and range of expertise, both technical and managerial. In a knowledge-based economy, this is a significant advantage and a strength that we can provide to our clients.
A business development strategy based on the CRA’s advantages also enables the Agency to attract and retain an experienced, knowledgeable workforce across Canada.
The Way Forward
While the work of implementing Agency 2010 will extend over the next several years, we intend to aggressively pursue several activities in the short term. Their success is fundamental to the longer-term evolution into an agency that extends coast-to-coast-to-coast. Over the next three years, we will undertake the following activities:
1. Clearly articulate the “value proposition” advanced by the Agency: effectiveness and responsiveness for clients (with clear accountabilities) and a simpler, less burdensome interface for Canadians, through the integration of programs and services.
2. Clearly define our core business, along with the competencies that enable us to perform at an optimal level.
3. Analyze the potential market for CRA (referring to our core competencies and core business expertise). This will include various governments and, where appropriate, government-funded or managed entities (e.g., Workers’ Compensation Boards).
4. Identify how we will build and put into operation a business development capacity to manage the strategic interface and overall relationship with clients.
5. Develop a communication strategy that repositions the Agency as a valued nationwide institution and advances our reputation as an effective, responsive and trustworthy organization.
6. Refine the governance model to reflect the maturing and strengthened capability of the Board of Management. The updated model will include a reinvigorated integrated risk management function.
7. Strengthen accountability frameworks for existing and new clients through customized accountabilities and enhanced information/reporting systems.
8. Provide increased service standards and improve upon the current avenues of rights and appeals for clients and taxpayers.
9. Develop a plan to ensure our infrastructure is aligned with Agency 2010, including:
10. Establish an investment plan for increased flexibility and mobility regarding our:
The table on this page highlights the key activities we will pursue over the next several years as we move to become a nationwide agency.
For the tax, revenue collection, and benefit programs that we deliver now or in the future, we will serve as the key interface between governments and the individuals, businesses, benefit recipients, charities, and trusts served by those programs. This interface will broaden, deepen, and become more important as we take responsibility for new programs. The efforts to solidify our position as an agency that operates nationwide will benefit both our clients and the citizens they serve; governments will enjoy lower administration costs and more effective compliance; citizens will receive more comprehensive, better-integrated services that are simpler for them to use and lighten their compliance burden. In short, both governments and Canadians will be winners.
Chapter 3 – Program Activities
Overview
This chapter is based on the Program Activity Architecture (PAA) developed by the CRA with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. While the details are still evolving, the PAA provides a structure for organizing, integrating, and presenting plans, budgets, and performance measures.
The Strategic Framework (Strategic Planning and Performance Reporting Framework) links program activities and expected results, according to the PAA.
The CRA continues to have two strategic outcomes:
- Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected.
- Eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments, contributing to the integrity of Canada’s income security system.
The chapter is organized according to these strategic outcomes and the seven program activities (PAs) that support them:
For each program activity, we present planned spending, an overview of the program, the approaches planned to advance the program, and the priority initiatives for the planning period. We group together initiatives supporting core business and other initiatives reflecting new business opportunities.
Each section concludes with a table of deliverables for the planning period as well as performance indicators and targets measuring the program activity’s expected results. These targets identify the percentage or degree of expected attainment of a performance level. Targets are established by program managers through analysis of operational realities and infrastructure, historical performance, the complexity of the work involved, and the expectations of Canadians.
The Corporate Services section covers infrastructure activities (e.g., information technology, financial management, and human resource administration) where enhancements support both a strong core business and capacity changes implicit in Agency 2010. Initiatives to mature the governance regime are also outlined in this section. As with last year’s report, corporate services expenses have been proportionately allocated among the six core tax and benefit program activities.
In addition, given that five years have now passed since the Agency was created, and since the departure of the customs function represents a significant change, we have updated our mission, vision, and values to better reflect our mandate, culture, and the operating environment.
Strategic Planning and Performance Reporting Framework
Tax Services
Each year, Tax Services interacts with 30 million individuals, businesses, trusts, and other organizations as it administers, assesses, and collects over $330 billion in taxes and excise duties, including more than $40 billion in taxes on behalf of Canada’s provinces (excluding Québec), territorial governments, and First Nations. The amounts collected help fund a wide range of programs and services that contribute to the social and economic well-being of all Canadians.
The five Tax Services program activities help to ensure that taxpayers and businesses receive accurate information and assistance so that they can understand their rights and obligations. Tax Services activities include registering businesses, charities, and deferred income plans; obtaining and processing returns and payments; issuing rulings on and interpretations of tax law; collecting arrears; performing reviews and audits; and identifying and prosecuting cases of wilful non-compliance. We also administer tax incentives, such as the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit, film tax credits, and other targeted credits, as well as deductions that generate refunds or otherwise reduce the amount of tax that would be owed.
The Strategic Outcome for the combined Tax Services program activities is — Taxpayers meet their obligations and Canada’s revenue base is protected.
The table on the next page (Strategic Outcome Measures – Tax Services) identifies the high-level measures we use to ensure that we meet this Strategic Outcome.
Strategic Outcome Measures – Tax Services
Client Assistance (PA1)3
| (thousands of dollars) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Budgetary Main Estimates – gross (see Financial Table 1) |
- Enhance targeting and customization of outreach programs, and expand taxpayer and business consultation efforts
- Reconfigure CRA in-person services to include self-service kiosks, access to 1-800 network, and agents available by appointment
- Innovate in delivering services to Canadians through business transformation and the ongoing evolution of agreements with Service Canada and provincial service organizations
- Ensure consistency, timeliness, and accuracy of information by implementing a content management system for the CRA site
The Client Assistance program activity has two sub-activities:
Program Overview – Client Services
Through self-service and agent assistance, the Client Services sub-activity provides access to tools, assistance, and information that facilitate voluntary compliance with tax obligations.
Program Approach – Client Services
To maintain our strong core business performance and our position as an innovative service leader, the CRA is continually enhancing and modernizing its services. We will focus on improving the quality of our services so that they are simpler and easier to use and facilitate compliance.
Our strategies build on the CRA’s track record, including performance measurement against published external service standards. They are also in line with the Government of Canada’s vision for the Next Generation Public Service.
We regularly analyze the demographics of taxpayers and businesses requesting in-person assistance, as well as the nature of their enquiries. The aim is to better tailor service options and redirect enquiries to more cost-effective channels, such as our Web site and the telephone.
Priority Initiatives – Client Services
Strong and Modern Core Business
Traditionally, information was provided to taxpayers on a per-program basis, and those with questions about several programs had to make multiple enquiries. We will continue to realign our service options and information material toward an approach centred on taxpayers or businesses, offering tools and information tailored to their needs.
To reduce costs, we will encourage increased use of self-service options. At the same time, we recognize that some of the public prefer in-person service. Accordingly, we will continue to offer such service by appointment, but we will organize targeted outreach and educational programs to promote and encourage the use of assisted self-service.
We will strengthen and enhance our technology/infrastructure on all channels. This will support an integrated, taxpayer- or business-centred service approach. It will also give us more flexibility to link to other organizations, programs, and levels of government, and to provide services on their behalf.
We will actively pursue partnerships with other service organizations at the federal, provincial, territorial and First Nations levels. This will allow us to provide more integrated services to Canadians and businesses where it makes sense to do so.
New strategies will foster a dynamic and flexible workforce that can respond in a taxpayer- or business-centric manner to changing and increasingly complex enquiries and concerns. With increased use of self-service options and program integration, CRA agents are expected to respond to more complex issues. To assist them, we will provide interactive e-learning and online integrated reference tools.
To support decisions on the design of our Web site, Web analysis will include feedback from taxpayers, businesses, and their agents, as well as research results. This will facilitate ongoing improvement of our online information services.
Outreach programs will address changing demographics, economic trends, and national and local compliance issues. The programs will be fine-tuned to meet the particular needs of specific taxpayer or business groups, such as small- and medium-sized enterprises, seniors, new Canadians, and students. We will also expand consultation and feedback so that we can continually evaluate taxpayer, business, and stakeholder needs and expectations.
We will continue to consolidate services and take on new business. In delivering services to Canadians, we will strive to innovate through business transformation and the ongoing evolution of agreements with Service Canada and provincial service organizations.
Deliverables – Client Services
Measures – Client Services
Program Overview – Tax and Regulatory Affairs
For taxpayers, our Tax and Regulatory Affairs sub-activity publishes advance income tax rulings relating to the tax consequences of proposed transactions, as well as technical interpretations of income tax law. Our GST/HST Rulings area provides taxpayers with an official interpretation or ruling of Part IX of the Excise Tax Act, in writing, by telephone, or in person and through various technical publications.
Our Registered Plans area registers and monitors pension and other deferred income plans, while our Charities function administers the national registration program for charities. A key activity has also been continuing implementation of the Charities Registration (Security Information) Act, which supports Canada’s national security agenda and international obligations to counter terrorism.
Our excise duties and taxes area is responsible for administering the non-GST portions of the Excise Tax Act, as well as the Excise Act and the Excise Act, 2001. This area is responsible for initiatives such as the Tobacco Compliance Strategy which will bring in a new stamping and marking regime to improve compliance with the tobacco tax legislation. The Excise area is also responsible for issues dealing with breweries, distilleries, and wineries.
On behalf of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), we administer the determination of employment status, pensionable earnings, and the insurability of earnings provisions under the Canada Pension Plan and the Employment Insurance Act.
Program Approach – Tax and Regulatory Affairs
Charities: An ongoing priority is to enhance our services so that we can improve compliance. Our efforts will focus on implementing the charities regulatory reform agenda. This is designed to give charities better access to policy information, increase the transparency of their decision-making, offer them a fair and accessible process of redress, and impose sanctions for non-compliance where appropriate. Our Charities area is also working with the provinces and territories to streamline and co-ordinate the overall regulatory framework.
Registered Plans: This sector has matured significantly since the implementation of pension reform regulations over a decade ago. We are committed to increasing compliance while providing strong assistance to clients across the sector. An enhanced audit and review function will allow us to monitor the plans we register. While compliance is a key component of our new approach, we are also upgrading services through our toll-free enquiries line, electronic publications, and outreach activities.
GST/HST/Excise: A specialized tobacco project team has been created at CRA headquarters to facilitate the implementation of our enhanced audit of small manufacturers initiative for the under-reporting of tobacco production. This team will develop specialized audit and compliance programs, procedures, policies, and guidelines, and identify program timelines and milestones. The team will provide technical assistance to field staff. It will hold numerous consultations and share information with the tobacco industry, provincial, territorial and First Nations authorities, and enforcement agencies such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The results will be better knowledge of non-compliance and a better ability to target potential non-compliance.
Priority Initiatives – Tax and Regulatory Affairs
Strong and Modern Core Business
We remain committed to increasing compliance in all areas of tax regulation, while continuing to provide strong taxpayer assistance.
Charities: Fiscal year 2006-2007 will be the third year of a five-year reform initiative designed to improve the regulatory environment in which charities operate. We will work with the sector to promote the accurate and timely filing of the charity information return; ensuring broad access to the new redress process; and facilitating greater access to charities information.
In addition, an integrated Charities system will be implemented by March 31, 2008, facilitating the organization, accessing, and sharing of charities information across the function.
Registered Plans: We will implement new procedures to register deferred income plans, using a risk-based approach. To ensure that they are in compliance with the Income Tax Act and Regulations, we will focus on how these plans are administered. We will continue to enhance services to plan administrators by upgrading our toll-free enquiries line, making more information available electronically on our Web site, and improving our outreach activities.
GST/HST/Excise: Over the next several years, we will substantially increase the frequency of audit and compliance visits to tobacco manufacturers. At the same time, we will make greater use of administrative monetary penalties for unreported production resulting in avoidance of excise duty and other related taxes.
We will continue to establish and expand business relationships with other federal government departments, provinces and territories, and First Nations, to improve service and reduce overall administrative costs.
Deliverables – Tax and Regulatory Affairs
| Program Priorities | Deliverables | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Improved service and transparency: | ||
| Enhanced compliance: | ||
| Increased collaboration with charitable sector organizations and with other charities regulators: | ||
Measures – Tax and Regulatory Affairs
Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing (PA2)
| (thousands of dollars) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Budgetary Main Estimates – gross (see Financial Table 1) |
Program Overview
Through the Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing program activity, we assess and process individual and business tax returns and payments using risk assessment, third-party data matching, and dependable information validation processes. As well, every known business in Canada is registered through this activity area (except those for which registration is not required by law).
Program Approach
We believe that high-quality service increases voluntary compliance by encouraging taxpayers and businesses to participate in an accessible and responsive tax system.
Over the planning period, we will:
- maintain our strong performance by encouraging wider use of electronic filing and by expanding our electronic service offerings;
- enhance compliance through the strategic use of data in support of risk assessment; and
- identify and adopt the best administrative practices by being an active member of various international forums.
Priority Initiatives
Strong and Modern Core Business
Electronic filing and service offerings: We will rebuild and modernize our core information processing systems to make them more flexible and better able to respond to the business needs of existing and new clients.
In the short term, we plan the following actions:
- Enhance online Internet services through our My Account portal by offering View My Return and other new options.
- Establish My Business Account.
- Develop an Internet portal allowing authorized tax professionals to manage their taxpayers’ accounts online.
- Start developing a Web site offering customized, multi-jurisdictional and secure online services to Canadian businesses. Users will eventually be able to view information and conduct transactions with the CRA, provinces/territories, and other government organizations.
- Improve service and procedures through greater use of technology, such as two-dimensional bar coding. Leverage Matching Redesign to match additional slips and to complete more beneficial taxpayer adjustments.
- Improve and market taxpayer- or business-centred electronic services. These will allow integrated access to tax information; provide standardized accounting outputs; and enable transactions across our revenue lines.
- Continue redevelopment of the GST/HST system to modernize delivery of the program.
New Budget 2006 Priority – 1% GST/HST reduction: The CRA is implementing the reduction in GST from 7% to 6% and in the HST from 15% to 14%, announced in the May 2006 Federal Budget. The change is effective July 2006.
We will continue to establish and expand business relationships with other federal, provincial and territorial and First Nation organizations to improve service to taxpayers/businesses and reduce overall administrative burden and costs. To this end, we will take the following actions:
- Encourage federal and provincial organizations to adopt the Business Number (BN) as a program identifier for a number of their business programs and services.
- Develop a comprehensive Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) Strategy, and work more closely with key associations and representatives of SMEs.
- Develop new Tax Centre and Tax Services Office strategies. These will capitalize on our competitive advantage to leverage new business. They will also optimize our infrastructure to improve program efficiency and effectiveness.
- Continue to work with the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) Committee to facilitate the electronic exchange of tax information via a non-proprietary standard (Tax-XML).
Deliverables – Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing
| Program Priorities | Deliverables | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic filing/services | ||
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Measures – Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing
Filing and Remittance Compliance (PA3)4
| (thousands of dollars) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Budgetary Main Estimates – gross (see Financial Table 1) |
Program Overview
Our Filing and Remittance Compliance program activities ensure compliance with tax laws for filing, withholding, and payment requirements, including amounts collected or withheld in trust on behalf of the Government of Canada and the provinces, territories, and First Nations.
Our non-filer/non-registrant function pursues unfiled personal and corporate income tax returns, as well as the registration of businesses that have not registered for the GST/HST as required. We also carry out compliance and enforcement activities related to filing returns and remitting payroll source deductions (encompassing taxes, Canada Pension Plan (CPP)/Employment Insurance (EI) premiums) and GST/HST amounts.
Our accounts receivable function is responsible for the timely collection of overdue accounts for all taxes, levies, duties, and other amounts, and assures effective tax debt management. This function now also deals with collection of non-tax debts for other departments regarding overpaid CPP and EI benefits, as well as the collection of defaulted student loans. The collection activities on these programs were transferred to the CRA on August 1, 2005.
Program Approach
The integrity of the tax system depends on taxpayers honouring their obligations by filing and properly reporting on their tax returns, and paying any amounts owing. Our program compliance approaches encourage taxpayers to voluntarily comply with their obligations. We are committed to using the full array of tools at our disposal to resolve cases that require more formal measures.
Since our collection and non-filer program activities are subject to important compliance risks, we plan to reinforce our processes and enforcement approaches aimed at curbing non-compliance.
For the planning period, we have an aggressive business transformation agenda built on:
- the adoption of an integrated, taxpayer/debtor centred approach aimed at modernizing our procedures and facilitating the integration of tax and non-tax workloads;
- the adoption of new technologies to enhance strong core performance, and to allow for improved analytical capacity and associated risk-based approaches for all our tax and non-tax activities; and
- the development and support of our employees as we modify our approaches, and the need to prepare them to work with new technology and face more complex and diverse workloads.
Our business transformation agenda will strengthen the position of the CRA as an attractive and effective service provider. It will also create opportunities to market CRA services in the areas of tax and non-tax accounts receivable and returns compliance.
Priority Initiatives
Strong and Modern Core Business
To manage growing workloads, we will modernize and improve core operations by adopting new business approaches and progressively implementing new technology for risk assessment, work distribution, and decision support.
Achieve our core tax program commitments and enhance their delivery: We will continue to meet our tax program commitments by maintaining the level of outstanding debts within targeted levels and by detecting and addressing non-compliance with the registration, filing, and remitting obligations of taxpayers.
2010 National Program Delivery Model: We will review existing workloads and associated business processes and identify opportunities for improvement through business re-engineering, application of technology, and workload management.
Non-tax collection program modernization and integration: This initiative relates to the modernization launched by Social Development Canada (now HRSD) before August 1, 2005, when it transferred collection activities to the CRA. The CRA’s new responsibilities mainly concern the recovery of CPP/EI social benefit overpayments and defaulted student loans. The business and modernization activities are currently being examined to adapt them to the CRA’s approaches as well as assuring the associated Expenditure Review Committee commitment of increased recoveries of $123 million over the next several years are met. Over the next three years, we will continue with the modernization initiative and progressively integrate the program and resources within the CRA.
Implement business transformation: The Agency must maximize the use of modern technology to support the strategic use of taxpayer information, and to improve the way we identify, manage, and distribute our workloads and measure our results.
We will implement a new technology platform within two years. This will allow us to integrate individual-based taxpayer workloads, and adopt a more taxpayer- or debtor-centric view. It will also aid in the resolution of our tax collections and compliance issues. Other lines of business are planned to migrate on this platform including non-tax collection workloads in the third year. Subsequent progress is expected for business clients (GST, T2, and Payroll) beyond the three-year timeframe.
We will support employees through the business transformation process by providing training, and revising job descriptions and competency requirements as enhancements and changes are made to our business processes.
Client base: We will create an expanded client base and strengthen existing relationships by pursuing new agreements on the collection of non-tax debts with other government departments (e.g., Justice, Citizenship and Immigration). We will also seek agreements with provincial Workers’ Compensation Boards in the area of joint compliance initiatives targeting registrants.
Deliverables – Filing and Remittance Compliance
| Program Priorities | Deliverables | Dates |
|---|---|---|
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Progressively implement a new technological platform: | |
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Measures – Filing and Remittance Compliance
Reporting Compliance (PA4)
| (thousands of dollars) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Budgetary Main Estimates – gross (see Financial Table 1) |
- Address aggressive tax planning through more research and analysis, increased business intelligence tools for auditors, and taxpayer education on aggressive tax planning schemes
- Pursue underground economy compliance by implementing recommendations from integrated enforcement team pilots and developing communication products to educate businesses about their responsibilities
Program Overview
The Reporting Compliance program activity addresses the accuracy and completeness with which taxpayers report their tax liability. It covers a range of audit and enforcement sub-activities. Major functions include examinations, reviews, audits and investigations to ensure compliance with federal, provincial and territorial income tax and GST laws.
Our audit sub-activity deals with individual audits, business audits, international tax, and tax avoidance.
Our investigations sub-activity investigates suspected cases of tax evasion and fraud, pursues criminal prosecutions, and publicizes successful prosecutions of tax law offenders to deter others. In addition, our Special Enforcement Program helps combat organized crime by enforcing the legislation that the Agency administers.
The Reporting Compliance program activity is also responsible for administering the Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP). The VDP encourages taxpayers to come forward and correct past omissions thus rendering themselves compliant with their legal obligations relating to taxation. Taxpayers who take advantage of the VDP, however, have to pay the taxes owing, plus interest. In certain situations, the amount of interest to be paid may be reduced.
Our Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) sub-activity is a federal tax incentive encouraging Canadian businesses to conduct research and development in Canada.
Other functions include research and analysis of compliance behaviour and trends, identification and assessment of tax compliance risk, and development of tools for use in audits and investigations.
The Reporting Compliance program activity is delivered by over 9,500 employees across Canada. We conduct more than 318,000 compliance actions every year and refer over 200 investigations to the Department of Justice for prosecution. In 2004-2005, our actions had an identified fiscal impact of $5.78 billion, exceeding our commitment to the Government of Canada. We also process about 11,000 SR&ED claims each year.
Program Approach
The basis of the Canadian tax system is that taxpayers determine their own liability under the law and then pay the correct amount of tax. The vast majority of Canadians (individuals and businesses) comply with tax laws when provided with the proper information, tools, and assistance. When they do not, our strategy is to identify and detect the most serious non-compliance issues and cases, take appropriate action, and deter future non-compliance.
Our administration of the tax system relies on effective risk management to identify emerging compliance risks and assess them for their potential effect on the tax base. We then develop strategies for mitigating the greatest risks to compliance with federal and provincial/territorial laws. The strategies may involve adjustments to address specific taxpayer segments or particular areas of non-compliance, using a mix of instruments and activities. We continually review program results to confirm that they are achieving program expectations and to optimize resource utilization.
Part of our risk management approach is to maintain an audit presence across all industry sectors and types of taxpayers. This deters non-compliance by increasing the credibility and visibility of our compliance programs.
Our initiatives for the coming period show that we continue work we started in 2004-2005 with the Compliance Review, which confirmed that the greatest risks of reporting non-compliance are in aggressive tax planning, the underground economy and GST/HST fraud. These risks are not new. Giving them new emphasis, however, includes refining our understanding of non-compliant taxpayer behaviour, improving risk management and targeting techniques, and sharpening the focus of our audit and investigation resources to further improve the detection and deterrence of these types of non-compliance.
Priority Initiatives
Strong and Modern Core Business
Aggressive tax planning and tax evasion: Aggressive tax planning involves schemes and arrangements that go beyond the intent of the legislation. To combat aggressive tax planning, we will continue to focus on early identification and analysis of schemes, timely audits, measures to increase public awareness, enforcement visibility, recommendation of legislative amendments, and collaboration with tax treaty partners. We will be addressing the issue of aggressive international tax planning, particularly the abusive use of tax havens, through a number of initiatives:
- Through our Centres of Expertise, we have begun and will continue to increase audit activity on international aggressive tax planning, including tax haven and transfer pricing issues. By March 31, 2008, we expect to complete 800 additional audits, with an estimated fiscal impact of over $200 million.
- We will complete studies in 10 research areas on aggressive tax planning schemes. Based on these findings, we will introduce improvements to our compliance risk assessment tools by March 31, 2007. We will also undertake additional studies throughout the planning period.
- We will expand the CRA Internet site to alert taxpayers to aggressive tax planning schemes. The Internet page will provide a forum for the Agency to state its position to the public on potentially abusive arrangements. This is a key element of the CRA’s aggressive tax planning strategy.
Underground economy: The underground economy is commercial activity that is unreported or under-reported for tax purposes. To combat the underground economy, we will:
- Increase our investment in research and analysis on the underground economy, and use the results to guide and refine our compliance strategy. We are increasing research on the underground economy, factors contributing to its growth in Canada, and the effectiveness of compliance strategies in reducing non-compliance. Under a pilot project, a satellite analysis unit will be established in one region. The results of this pilot will be evaluated for possible creation of such units in all regions in 2007-2008.
- Continue to benchmark our approach to addressing the underground economy with other tax administrations to refine our compliance strategies. Plans have been developed for an independent review of the approaches and best practices adopted by foreign tax administrations in addressing the underground economy. The review findings are expected to be available in 2006-2007. They will assist in validating components of the CRA’s compliance strategy, identifying new or novel approaches that have been tried and tested with some success, and identifying research methods that have been developed and used to assess the effectiveness of compliance measures.
- Expand the use of third-party information to detect underground economy activity. We will explore new partnerships with provincial Workers’ Compensation Boards and other federal, provincial, territorial and First Nations agencies to gain access to information that will help us detect cases of non-compliance.
- Publicize the consequences of participating in the underground economy. We will expand our communications products (brochures, pamphlets, home shows, Web site) to inform Canadians of the risks of participating in the underground economy. We will develop new communications products to inform businesses about their responsibility for maintaining adequate books and records.
- Analyze the results of the integrated enforcement teams’ pilots on chronic non-compliers.
GST/HST compliance: Our ongoing program activities seek to prevent improper GST/HST refunds, and to create a legislative and administrative environment that reduces systematic opportunities for fraud. Activities include the following:
- Improve risk assessment for registration and pre-payment to identify high-risk taxpayers before, and at the time of, refund claims. The High Risk Analysis Teams program is being redesigned to equip it with modern technical tools for improving efficiency and effectiveness.
- Identify high-risk taxpayers at the time of registration and before refund claims are paid, by implementing the findings of a series of pilot projects to be completed in 2006-2007. The pilot studies will allow us to improve our risk assessment procedures.
- Use informant leads and partnerships with law enforcement agencies.
Voluntary Disclosures Program: To improve overall program management of the VDP, we will redefine program objectives and performance measurement criteria, review VDP policies and guidelines to improve program consistency in the field, and ensure that the program is fully integrated with CRA compliance activities.
Strengthening capacity: As new responsibilities and increasing business complexity cause the work of the CRA to expand, we must be able to handle a higher work volume and deal with more challenging files. Many improvements to our core capacity will support these goals. We will increase our capacity for policy development and research; both are critical elements of our compliance strategy. We will replace legacy systems with applications and hardware that enable us to better ensure compliance with tax legislation. We will strengthen our relations with other governments to deliver the compliance programs that our clients require.
Specific plans include the following:
- Develop a Cross Program Taxpayer Compliance Profile system to provide a complete and common view of a taxpayer, with information from the CRA’s assessment, compliance, and collections program activities.
- Subject to final project approval, implement new program delivery and management information systems stemming from our Business Integration Systems Support Infrastructure (BISSI). This initiative will run from winter 2005 to 2011. It will offer program officers, auditors and investigators secure, single-window access to a suite of systems to support risk assessment, program delivery and integrated information management. During this planning period we will conduct pilots and implement initiatives. Under these, we will develop tools for users through prototyping and testing, and initiate pilots that include workload selection, workload management, and the conduct of compliance activities.
- Establish a workforce strategy to recruit and develop new CRA staff and retain our qualified workforce.
Deliverables – Reporting Compliance
| Program Priorities | Deliverables | Dates |
|---|---|---|
Measures – Reporting Compliance
Appeals (PA5)
| (thousands of dollars) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Budgetary Main Estimates – gross (see Financial Table 1) |
- Facilitate improved data capture and program reporting of amounts forgiven under the Fairness Provisions
Program Overview
The Appeals program activity resolves disputes between the CRA and taxpayers by conducting fair and impartial reviews of our decisions, and by assisting the Department of Justice during any subsequent appeal to the courts. This program activity is responsible for reviewing taxpayers’ contested decisions in the areas of:
- income tax,
- GST/HST,
- excise tax,
- Canada Pension Plan pensionability of an employment, and
- Employment Insurance insurability of an employment.
In addition, Appeals leads the CRA’s Fairness Initiative, which allows for application of legislative provisions to cancel or waive interest and penalties when taxpayers cannot comply with tax laws because of circumstances beyond their control.
Program Approach
Our objective is for Canadians to continue receiving an impartial and responsive review of contested decisions. As outlined in Agency 2010, we believe that an impartial and responsive dispute resolution process fosters trust in the integrity of Canada’s tax system, and that this in turn helps promote compliance.
Over the planning period, we will improve the CRA’s business intelligence related to our dispute resolution procedures and our response to court challenges. To do this, we will work closely with our partners in the field (e.g., via our regional risk committees) and other government departments (e.g., Justice Canada’s Tax Law Services, and Finance Canada). The aim is to achieve a more co-ordinated appeals posture.
We will also ensure a positive, professional, respectful, and co-operative workplace that stresses the provision of services with integrity, as well as a workplace in which conflicts are managed in a positive and productive manner. We will promote this environment through leadership, appropriate staffing, and conflict management. We will emphasize multi-year human resources planning as we prepare for the move to multi-year planning and resource allocation in 2006-2007.
Our program approach includes a number of actions:
- Review our core business operations, and strengthen them by enhancing the accessibility, transparency, consistency, and timeliness of dispute resolution.
- Improve risk management for dispute and litigation issues.
- Continue to be the CRA’s centre of expertise in all matters pertaining to Fairness Provisions.
Priority Initiatives
Strong and Modern Core Business
Appeals Vision: We believe that the creation of centres of expertise will ensure that we have the right people in the right place at the right time. Continuous review of our infrastructure will help us improve the quality and timeliness of our program delivery, especially the Appeals Large Files Program.
We will complete the pilot project launched in the Sudbury Tax Centre that is improving workload management, risk identification, and our ability to quickly deal with less complex files while improving our overall timeliness.
Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance Program: We will address inefficiencies in the CPP/EI redress process noted in the 2004 report of the Auditor General, and will determine areas of improvement. For this purpose, we will continue with our review of the program together with our partners, including the Agency’s Filing and Remittance Compliance program activity, Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), and the Department of Justice.
In the short term, we will improve our accountability with HRSD and clarify the roles of our CPP/EI appeals officers and those of ruling officers, to eliminate any duplication of effort. In addition, we will conduct an analysis to determine the actual resource requirements for this program.
Government On-Line: We will move forward with our Government On-Line (GOL) initiatives to support the Agency’s overall approach within the broader government agenda. We will continue to make our Appeals programs more accessible through the ‘My Account’ portal. This will facilitate the redress process when corporations dispute an assessment or determination.
With the overall increase in electronic filing, efficiencies will be gained in the administration of our dispute resolution procedures. These increased efficiencies will also enable us to accept new workloads for various appeals processes as the Agency gains an increased client base.
Integration of Risk Management: We will move beyond the risk management of individual files to integrate Appeals risk management into the overall framework of the CRA and that of our clients in other government departments. Risk will be managed using a “whole of government” approach, ensuring horizontal accountability.
Building on our current risk management foundation, we will renew and re-emphasize risk management at the grassroots level to ensure that all risks are identified as early as possible.
Fairness Provisions Reporting: Across the CRA, we will continue to use monitoring and quality assurance at the program level to ensure consistent delivery of the Fairness Provisions. Public confidence in the Agency will be strengthened as fairness is managed consistently across all CRA programs.
Specifically, we will enhance system capability to facilitate improved data capture and program reporting of amounts forgiven under the Fairness Provisions.
The initiatives associated with maintaining a strong core business show how we plan to improve program delivery for taxpayers. In turn, these enhancements to our Appeals infrastructure will make the use of our platform more attractive to provinces, territories and other clients. We will continue to review best practices of tax administrations in other jurisdictions.
Deliverables – Appeals
| Program Priorities | Deliverables | Dates |
|---|---|---|
Measures – Appeals
Benefit Programs (PA6)
| (thousands of dollars) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Budgetary Main Estimates – gross (see Financial Table 1) |
- Continue to refine newly-developed benefit programs compliance strategy based on education, facilitated compliance, and a credible enforcement presence
Program Overview
The Benefit Programs activity supports the efforts of federal, provincial, and territorial governments to assist persons with disabilities, families and children, and low- and moderate-income households, and to reduce child poverty. We provide Canadians with income-based benefits, credits and other services that contribute directly to their economic and social well-being. We administer four ongoing federal programs:
- the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB)
- the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) credit
- Children’s Special Allowances
- the Disability Tax Credit (DTC)
In addition, we administer 17 ongoing benefit programs on behalf of the provinces and territories. As well, we deliver one-time payment programs for provinces and the Government of Canada—most recently, the Alberta 2005 Resource Rebate and the federal Energy Cost Benefit payment. We also supply information as authorized by law to federal, provincial, and territorial clients, supporting the administration of their benefit and other income-based programs.
Ongoing Benefit Programs Administered by the CRA on behalf of the Provinces and Territories
Program Approach
Benefit Programs plays a significant role in the government’s Service to Canadians initiative. Our strategic outcome is that eligible families and individuals receive timely and correct benefit payments.
Administration of Benefit Programs is divided into two sub-activities:
- Client services – Benefit programs5
-
Benefit Programs Administration
- Maintains strong performance in the timely and accurate issuance of 70 million benefit payments, including payments under provincial and territorial programs.
- Maintains high program enrolment rates and increase awareness of eligibility.
- Ensures that only those who are entitled receive benefits.
- Uses our unique technology and national benefit delivery infrastructure to deliver new programs and services on behalf of a broad range of clients.
Priority Initiatives
Strong and Modern Core Business – Client services – Benefit programs
Establish Telephone Service Standards/ Internal Performance Targets: Person-to-person telephone service is essential to many benefit recipients, especially those with low incomes who may lack access to the Internet. We will implement a telephone service-level standard for the CCTB. We will establish a new internal performance target for the GST/HST credit after compiling and analyzing sufficient data from the toll-free network implemented in June 2004.
Strong and Modern Core Business – Benefit Programs Administration
Expand My Account services: While the telephone is the preferred method of contact for many benefit recipients, our accessibility strategy also includes reducing recipients’ need to call by promoting the use of technology; this builds their skills and helps contain our costs. We will make sure that recipients have ready-telephone access to key information during peak call-volume periods close to monthly CCTB and quarterly GST/HST credit payment dates. Our Child and Family Benefits Web site provides answers to common benefit enquiries. Benefit Payments Online, part of My Account, gives recipients a convenient single point of access for information about their benefit accounts. We are exploring the possibility of offering new self-service options. For example, we will assess the feasibility of permitting parents to apply for the CCTB and register their children for the GST/HST credit online.
System modernization: We process millions of payments each year for CCTB and GST/HST credit recipients, including payments under related provincial and territorial benefit and credit programs. Virtually all are issued in a timely and accurate manner. Rebuilding strong core systems that maintain these high-quality services is a multi-year effort. We are developing a modernization strategy for our Individual information returns (T1 returns) identification (IDENT) system to provide for future capacity needs. Other core systems will be assessed subsequently.
Disability Tax Measures Initiative: Under the Disability Tax Measures Initiative, we are beginning to implement the administrative recommendations made in the December 2004 Disability Tax Fairness report. Along with potential legislative changes, implementation of the recommendations (where feasible) will further our ongoing efforts to ensure that persons with disabilities are treated fairly and equitably.
Targeted outreach: We will develop and implement a communication strategy covering all of our benefit programs. This will assist us in maintaining high program enrolment, promoting take-up rates among potential recipients, and increasing awareness of entitlements and obligations among existing recipients.
We will maintain current relationships with Citizenship and Immigration Canada. We will also seek new opportunities to communicate benefit program information to existing and potential recipients (e.g., bookmarks in kits by the Growing Family Corporation for new parents). Inserts in benefit payment mail-outs for existing recipients will highlight program obligations, and materials will be developed to promote benefit take-up among potential recipients.
Compliance Strategy: We will continue to refine our newly-developed compliance strategy for Benefit Programs, with three goals:
- to inform and educate existing and potential new recipients;
- to facilitate compliance with program legislation so that only those who are entitled receive benefits; and
- to have a credible enforcement presence.
We will further develop our validation/controls techniques and monitoring tools to better select accounts for review and maintain overall compliance.
We will fine-tune our case management system to provide the dollar value of the adjustments we generate. This will allow us to measure the impact of our validation programs.
Improve data integrity: Through pilot projects, we will evaluate and implement practices for improving the integrity of data used to assess and measure non-compliance.
The initiatives associated with maintaining a strong core business show how we plan to improve program delivery, while ensuring that the right benefits are delivered only to the right individuals. In turn, by enhancing the CRA’s delivery infrastructure for benefits, we make the use of our platform more attractive to provinces, territories, and other government departments.
The CRA strives to fully engage our client organizations and integrate our efforts with theirs. We regularly consult with our numerous clients, stakeholders, and external agencies. We will create a capacity to promote our services to the provinces, territories, and municipalities. We will pursue opportunities for expanding our operations and offering more programs and services to clients. Our aim is to reduce the overall administrative cost of government to taxpayers by simplifying administration and eliminating duplication, limiting compliance burdens, and delivering higher-quality service.
New Budget 2006 Priority – Delivery of new programs: The CRA will be working in partnership with Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) to deliver the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB). The UCCB is a new benefit of $100 per month to be paid for children under the age of six. It is one of two components of the HRSD Universal Child Care Plan.
Expanding Income Verification services: Under the co-operative Income Verification Program, the federal and provincial/territorial governments exchange data using File Transfer Protocol (FTP) methodology. FTP allows the CRA to release limited taxpayer information, with taxpayer consent, using a secure, two-way, online electronic data exchange. This simplifies the administration of income-tested benefit programs for recipients. Data exchanges for fifteen provincial programs are in production and seven more are in the testing phase. Negotiations are underway to enrol 10 more programs.
Income Verification Program Partnerships – in production using FTP methodology
- British Columbia Ministry of Health Services (Medical Premium Program, Home and Community Care Program, Pharmacare Program)
- Newfoundland and Labrador Professional Fish Harvesters Certification Board (Professional Fish Harvesters Certification Program)
New channels for exchanging vital statistics information: We will work with other governments to negotiate sharing of vital statistics information; the aim is to ease reporting obligations for benefit recipients and reduce overall costs. Pilot projects will be conducted with two jurisdictions to determine the feasibility of expanding to additional clients.
One-stop information access at Service Canada: We will work with Service Canada, including pilot projects, to determine how common information needs can best be bundled and routed. However, at no time will Service Canada agents deal with account-specific benefit information, respond on behalf of the CRA to specific benefit-related enquiries, or accept payments on behalf of the CRA.
Automate and streamline OAS/GIS: We will work with Human Resources and Social Development to examine extending the exchange of authorized recipient information with File Transfer Protocol methodology to include Old Age Security (OAS) recovery tax and non-resident OAS recovery tax.
Strategic Outcome Measures – Benefit Programs
| Performance Expectations | Indicators | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Benefit payments are issued on time | ||
| Benefit payments are correct | ||
| Provinces/territories, and other federal departments rely on CRA as a key service provider |
Deliverables – Benefit Programs
| Program Priorities | Deliverables | Dates |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Measures – Benefit Programs
| Performance Expectations | Indicators | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Benefit recipients receive timely, accurate, and accessible information | ||
| Maintain high program awareness and take-up through effective communications tools | ||
| Maintain or increase satisfaction levels of benefit recipients | Evaluation of products by benefit recipients: | |
| Meet service standards and internal performance targets | Service Standards | |
| Internal performance targets: | ||
|
||
| Increase use of self-service options | Range of self-serve options | |
| Take-up rates: | ||
| Eligibility determination and payment processing are timely and accurate | ||
| Meet or exceed service standards and internal performance targets for timely and accurate processing of benefit payments, applications, and account maintenance adjustments | Service Standards | |
| Internal performance targets | ||
| Timeliness of processing: | ||
| Accuracy of processing: | ||
| Maintain or increase satisfaction levels of benefit recipients | Satisfaction with service by benefit recipients: | |
| Maintain high overall compliance | ||
| Growth in the programs and services administered for the provinces, territories, and other federal departments to reduce duplication across all levels of government and to lower the overall cost of program delivery | ||
1 The change to 75% from our previous target of 80% is consistent with our strategy to offer increased on-line services and reflects resources available for this workload.
Corporate Services (PA7)
Priorities- Strengthen the CRA infrastructure through efficient and strategic human resource management; rigorous financial, administrative, and risk procedures; and strategic investments in technology systems
- Evolve the CRA governance and accountability regime by strengthening the Board of Management, implementing a new corporate committee structure, and developing the communication strategy that positions the organization nationwide
Program Overview
The CRA’s Corporate Services provide and maintain the infrastructure for Agency operations, as well as their strategic direction. Both are essential to the delivery of tax and benefit programs.
The Corporate Services program activity includes seven sub-activities:
- Human Resources
- Finance and Administration
- Information Technology
- Public Affairs
- Agency Management
- Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs
- Corporate Audit and Program Evaluation
While each sub-activity plays a distinct role in the CRA, all are interrelated. Together they form the framework that supports and connects the CRA’s program delivery activities. For example, our Compliance Program is delivered by well-trained people (Human Resources) using automated systems (Information Technology) as efficiently as possible (Finance and Administration).
Program Approach
The seven sub-activities take a common approach to provide maximum advantage to the Agency at minimum cost. Together, CRA Corporate Services enable the Tax and Benefit Programs to be effective and efficient.
For the period covered by this report, the Corporate Services program activity will focus on improving the Agency’s infrastructure and building on our governance and accountability regime.
The Agency’s infrastructure—the people who are our major strength, the buildings that house them, as well as the tools and systems that facilitate their work—is the framework for our success in providing service to Canadians. Infrastructure improvements help maintain the Agency’s core business and advance business opportunities.
As we move to implement Agency 2010, we will build on our legislated authorities to provide tax and benefit services to Canadians on behalf of all levels of government. The result will be not only greater efficiency in government operations but greater accountability to Canadians through an open and transparent governance regime.
Human Resources
PrioritiesAs an agency, the CRA is responsible for its own HR regime. In the five years since becoming an agency, we have overhauled our HR infrastructure and implemented policies, procedures, systems, and structures that directly support the achievement of the CRA’s business results.
Over the planning period, we will put these changes to use, providing a knowledgeable and skilled workforce that enables our program branches to maintain the strength of their core business and to pursue new business opportunities. We see excellence in human resources management as the foundation for a high-performing organization.
Priority Initiatives
Strong and Modern Core Business and Expand Business Opportunities
To work effectively in our changing business environment, we will develop and implement a comprehensive Workforce Strategy in support of Agency 2010. We will focus on activities that support recruitment and development, knowledge transfer, and retention for core business and business development workers. We will maintain a strong executive cadre through succession management and continued investment in management development programs. As well, the strategy will address the impact of the acquisition of new business, such as the integration of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) collections employees into the CRA.
Our commitment to fairness in the workplace will continue to guide our activities and our strategies during this planning period. In addition, we will implement a new three-year action plan for official languages to ensure that we meet our legal obligations and respect the spirit behind those requirements.
Our Competency-Based HR Management (CBHRM) Framework is the cornerstone of the Agency’s HR regime. We will continue to focus on integrating the CBHRM approach to workforce planning, resourcing and recruitment, training and learning, performance management, and career management. In the short term, we will support managers with the education and tools to complete the introduction of Phase 1 of the Observe and Attest initiative, a competency assessment method that allows managers to assess competencies based on observation of their employees’ on-the-job behaviour. We will also accelerate the use of Pre-Qualification Processes (PQPs) through the implementation of other streamlining initiatives.
These initiatives will help increase the percentage of employees with valid competency results, directly reducing the time required to staff positions.
During this planning period, we will move forward with streamlining and modernizing our job classification system. This includes starting to implement the new Agency Classification Standard (ACS) for Services and Programs (SP) group, which will collapse sixteen classification standards into one to classify SP jobs.
Applying technology to modernize how we do business is key for Human Resources. With eResourcing, applicants will be able to manage their applications online, managers will be able to access applications online, and our Human Resources function will be able to automate the pre-screening of education, area of selection, time of submission, and language prerequisites.
During this planning period, we will continue to invest in the transformation of HR processes and systems, including the completion of the Compensation Service Delivery Renewal Project (CSDRP) and the Employee and Manager Self-Service System (ESS/MSS). This will modernize the key processes that affect compensation.
The significant changes in our HR programs over the past five years were achieved in consultation with our unions. The CRA seeks to further optimize union-management relations and workplace well-being. Through the Union-Management Initiative, we will work to strengthen the relationship between management and unions—based on respect, understanding, and co-operation, with conflicts managed through the use of informal and alternative dispute resolution.
The next three years will see the realization of many of the benefits envisaged for the new Human Resources regime as the CRA continues to be a leader in human resources management in government. We have set clear landmarks to guide us on the next phase of our journey.
Finance and Administration
PrioritiesTo sustain our clients’ trust in our ability to collect revenue and deliver entitlements, the CRA must demonstrate competent stewardship; sound comptrollership; and effective, efficient financial and administrative services.
The CRA Act grants the Agency authority over its general administrative policy, such as for contracting and procurement, and its real property. The delivery of CRA programs is supported by policies and procedures in these areas, and by monitoring of their practice and results. All these are essential to support a well-defined, modern, and high-performing core business capacity.
Priority Initiatives
We will strengthen the Financial Control and Reporting Framework to improve our capacity to monitor expenditures. We will provide our clients with objective assurance that CRA controls supporting collection of tax revenue are appropriate and operate effectively. This increased clarity will demonstrate accountability to our clients and allow us to pursue new business opportunities.
Building on our legislated authority to manage real property, we will leverage the CRA partnership with Public Works and Government Services Canada to fully implement a market-based reimbursing regime business model aimed at meeting CRA’s real property needs.
Finance and Administration Infrastructure
To advance our commitment to effective and efficient administration, we will achieve improvements in our financial management by implementing a standardized nationwide administration. We will also improve performance by expanding our internal service standards, which will ensure greater consistency, transparency, and accountability.
Through consolidated service delivery, additional strategic sourcing, and improved electronic ordering technology, we will sustain and enhance the Agency procurement function, building on our progress since becoming an Agency in 1999 and using to full advantage the administrative authorities in the CRA Act.
We will develop a CRA Project Management Framework that sets a disciplined, common approach to project management across the Agency. We will also pursue the formulation and adoption of a CRA Risk Management Policy. These two initiatives will reinforce decision-making in a governance regime built on accurate and reliable information, and will maintain trust in our operations.
In line with our commitment to protect our people, assets, and client and personal information, we will continue to conduct Compliance and Monitoring Reviews of facilities and systems to ensure that an adequate policy framework is maintained and communicated. In an effort to ensure our continued ability to deliver critical business functions during times of crisis, we will maintain and enhance our Emergency Management Program, including improvements to our business continuity infrastructure.
Building on our successes of the past five years, we will complete implementation of our Sustainable Development Strategy for 2004-2007. The Strategy we are developing for 2007-2010 will push forward with the integration of sustainable development into key program activities, service relationships, and business development opportunities. Additional details can be found in "Appendix E – Sustainable Development Strategy".
Information Technology
PrioritiesA key challenge for the IT program is to maintain the right balance of effort and investment between existing commitments and creating new or additional capacity to respond to the changing business context of Agency 2010, while also addressing pressures such as the ‘enterprising’ of government and the ever-evolving technological environment, and the need to sustain a skilled and engaged workforce. We will continue to identify opportunities for increased efficiencies, while demonstrating agility in support of new Agency challenges.
Priority Initiatives
Strong and Modern Core Business and Expand Business Opportunities
We are committed to strengthening our technical infrastructure and to enhancing our service/product delivery through the following initiatives:
- Our IT Security Modernization program will enhance our ability to maintain the integrity and security of electronic data holdings.
- We will invest in environmental upgrades to our Data Centre Heron facility, so that it continues to meet Agency business requirements.
- The Data Centre Recoverability project will ensure the ability of critical business functions to carry on in the event of a catastrophic loss of a data centre.
- The Network Services Enhancement project will improve network performance, resiliency, and agility by upgrading core infrastructure to meet client requirements.
- The Data Stewardship and Business Intelligence/Decision Support programs will enable the Agency to create a holistic client view that supports the Agency’s knowledge workers and also provides citizens, businesses, and clients with access to their own information.
- The Managed Distributed Environment program, in concert with a National IT Support Program, will leverage evolving technology by increasing automation and consolidating services and products.
- The Service Availability Improvement Project will build a more robust IT infrastructure supporting the high-availability systems required by the Agency’s Government On-Line agenda.
- A Quality Program, using industry best practices, will provide the structure and tools to improve the control of key development and operations processes.
- The Asset Management Plan will support the life-cycle management of our IT assets.
- We will continue to identify the core building blocks for supporting self-service and enhanced compliance, through an enterprise view of program plans established in partnership with program branches.
Over the last decade, the CRA has emphasized IT standardization, common infrastructure, and reuse of system components. We will share these strengths and help build the Government of Canada service platform. The Agency will make use of shared government services when there is a clear business case to do so.
CRA is currently providing Corporate Administrative Systems (CAS) and shared IT Infrastructure Services to support Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA). As the Agency’s long-term business plan does not call for it to continue as a shared service provider to the CBSA, we will continue these services until the transition to a new service provider is complete.
Public Affairs
PrioritiesSupporting the CRA as it evolves toward Agency 2010 will be the chief focus of public affairs activity over the next three years. The CRA needs strategic advice, executive services and products in a wide range of areas, including communications, parliamentary affairs, issues management, electronic and print media, and requests under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. Through vigorous issues management, the Agency will be able to identify and address emerging issues that could compromise Canadians’ trust in its integrity.
Priority Initiatives
As the CRA continues to evolve as an agency, it will develop and implement a communication strategy in alignment with the future direction of the Agency. We will emphasize the position of the Agency as a service provider in all regions of Canada, and will promote the CRA as a trustworthy, innovative, effective and responsive organization.
The CRA maintains a portfolio of over 5,000 forms and publications, and publishes over 100,000 Web pages annually. We will modernize our publishing function to achieve greater value for money, improve publications planning, and provide sustainable strategic direction.
To improve the Agency’s capacity for sharing information internally and increase the integrity of this information, we will continue our multi-year Intranet Renewal Project. A single, integrated information source will improve the Agency’s capacity to share information internally. In turn, this will support employee needs and Agency goals.
Agency Management
Priorities- Pursue greater use of CRA Act mandated authorities
- Further refine strategy and framework for dealing with provincial, territorial and First Nations governments
- Consolidate recent advances with First Nations
The Canada Revenue Agency’s five-year report, tabled in Parliament in May 2005, notes that the CRA has successfully laid the foundation of an innovative and flexible governance regime. The CRA must continue to evolve in its governance regime and legislative framework to fully exploit its agency status.
Priority Initiatives
We will explore the full realization of the legislated authorities of the Agency and its Board of Management. This review is required to fully exploit the unique flexibilities inherent in the CRA, and to secure support and flexibility in the areas of planning and financial management accountability, including the Management Accountability Framework (MAF). The review will also prepare the Agency for serving new clients and pursuing new business directions.
We will enhance Agency strategic decision-making through a new corporate committee structure.
We will implement higher standards for planning and performance reporting to meet demands for greater accountability and increased transparency on the part of both clients and central agencies. Information and reporting to provinces will be improved, including customized reporting to meet specific needs. Linkages will be strengthened between the Corporate Business Plan, the Annual Report, the CRA’s HR, IT and investment plans, and our performance management system.
More detail on Agency 2010 and our short-term work in this area is provided in Chapter 2.
Strategic Policy and Analysis Capacity
The Agency will continue to build its strategic policy and analysis capacity during the planning period. Key internal and external horizontal initiatives will be advanced, with a focus on Agency 2010. Agency-wide strategic analysis, research, and co-ordination will guide the evolution of governance and support integrated business planning and decision-making.
The Agency Management program sub-activity also includes the provision of legal services within the CRA.
The legal aspects of the CRA’s operations and policies are under a long-standing joint appointment arrangement with Justice Canada. Legal Services provides legal advice and counsel to the Minister, the Commissioner, and the Board of Management for all Agency program activities. It oversees the Agency’s interface with the larger justice service to ensure that the service meets the Agency’s needs.
The aim over the planning period is to develop stronger accountabilities for planning and resourcing in place across the larger justice service. This will ensure a strong and focused national legal infrastructure for the Agency. Discussions are underway on a plan to achieve this result.
Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs
Priorities- Further refine strategy and framework for dealing with provincial, territorial, and First Nations governments
The Agency continues to manage relationships with all of the Agency’s clients—provinces, territories, and First Nations. This responsibility includes co-ordinating regional efforts and addressing multilateral issues that affect more than one jurisdiction.
Priority Initiatives
The CRA will concentrate on further developing and implementing its strategy to become the service provider of choice for tax and benefit administration for governments across Canada. This work will be undertaken in conjunction with all areas of the Agency, and will lead to a robust approach to managing and growing the CRA’s client relationships.
In addition, this activity will consolidate recent advances with First Nations by ensuring that substantive discussions occur in areas of concern related to the administration of taxes.
Corporate Audit and Program Evaluation
Our corporate audit and evaluation activities support the achievement of the Agency’s strategic goals. They provide the Commissioner, the Board of Management, and senior management of the Agency with independent and objective information, advice, and assurance on the soundness of the Agency’s management framework, and on the effectiveness, efficiency, and value for money of its strategies, programs, and practices.
Deliverables – Corporate Services
Key Internal Management Expectations
- The CRA has a knowledgeable, skilled, and representative workforce in a workplace oriented to well-being and sustainability with employees committed to successful program delivery
Conclusion by the Commissioner
The Canada Revenue
Agency’s 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities presents our strategic vision of the Agency in 2010. In this report we link our program activities for the
next three years to that vision, and establish short- and medium-term deliverables that will bring us to 2010. Our deliverables will also respond to key tax and
benefit initiatives introduced in the May 2006 federal budget.
This report marks a turning point for the Agency. In the late 1990s, Parliament was seeking innovative ways to improve government service to Canadians. The Canada Revenue Agency was created as a prototype Alternative Service Delivery organization. The Agency has embraced this change and built an infrastructure that will support the next phase in our evolution. It is now time to fully implement the legislated authorities granted by Parliament and take full advantage of Agency status as a service provider for Canadians.
Our plans for the future must start with strong core business performance—administering taxes, collecting revenues and delivering benefits. We must maintain and strengthen our expertise by continually ensuring that our services are efficient and effective, and by maintaining Canadians' trust in the integrity and fairness of our program administration.
This report also calls for the maturing of our governance regime. This unique governance regime, which brings together political direction and corporate rigour, offers invaluable opportunities to clients and taxpayers for an effective and modern organization to administer tax, benefit, and related programs. We have yet to explore all the possibilities offered by this unique governance model.
The strength of our core business and our governance regime allows us to pursue new opportunities. We are able to offer to clients our modern, high-capacity processing operations, our national infrastructure, and our network of taxpayer and benefit recipient services. Linking current program activities to Agency 2010 ensures that new opportunities will be consistent with our business model and with our mandate to provide tax and benefits services.
As always, we rely on the experience and professionalism of our employees to meet our present and future goals. Together we are creating a nationwide institution of which Canada can be proud.
Michel Dorais, ICD.D
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
Canada Revenue Agency
Appendix A – Board of Management
Mandate
The Board of Management (BoM) of the Canada Revenue Agency is responsible for overseeing the organization and administration of the Agency and the management of its resources, services, property, personnel and contracts.
Members
Connie I. Roveto, ICD.D
Chair, Board of Management
President
Cirenity Management
Toronto, Ontario
Camille Belliveau, FCGA, CFP
Senior Financial Consultant (self-employed)
Shediac, New Brunswick
Myles Bourke, B.Comm., FCA
Chartered Accountant
Lethbridge, Alberta
L. Bernice Buckle
Corporate Director
Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador
Raymond Desrochers, CA, CFE
Partner
BDO Dunwoody LLP Chartered Accountants
Winnipeg, Manitoba
André Gingras
Founder and Director
André Gingras et Associés inc.
Montréal, Québec
James J. Hewitt, FCMA
Corporate Director
Penticton, British Columbia
Linda Ivany, FCGA
Corporate Director
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Howard A. Leeson, Ph.D.
Professor of Political Science
University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan
James L. MacPhee, CA
Partner
Grant Thornton LLP Chartered Accountants
Montague, Prince Edward Island
Rod Malcolm, CA
Corporate Director
Iqaluit, Nunavut
James R. Nininger, Ph.D.
Corporate Director
Ottawa, Ontario
Stephen E. Rudin
Executive Director
Alzheimer’s Society of Canada
Toronto, Ontario
Brock A. Smith
Corporate Director
Toronto, Ontario
Michel Dorais, ICD.D
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer
Canada Revenue Agency
Ottawa, Ontario
The Board of Management is supported by four committees with mandates to assist the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities. The role and membership of these committees is outlined below.
| Mandate | The Governance Committee supports the Board of Management’s responsibilities for the stewardship of the Agency’s resources, services, property, personnel, and contracts by providing leadership in the governance framework and policies and practices of the Agency for the Board. | |
| Membership | Chair: | C. Roveto |
| Vice-Chair: | H. Leeson | |
| Members: | M. Dorais, L. Ivany, J. Nininger | |
| Mandate | The Audit Committee reviews the Agency’s accounting framework, financial and performance information, internal controls and risk tolerance, and compliance with financial and environmental legislation.1 | |
| Membership | Chair: | J. Hewitt |
| Vice-Chair: | R. Desrochers | |
| Members: | J. MacPhee, C. Roveto | |
| Mandate | The Resources Committee reviews the Agency’s operating and capital budgets and the development of its administrative management strategies and policies for the management of funds, real property, contracts, information, information technology, and environmental obligations. | |
| Membership | Co-Chair: | C. Belliveau |
| Co-Chair: | R. Malcolm | |
| Members: | M. Dorais, A. Gingras, L. Ivany, C. Roveto | |
| Mandate | The Human Resources Committee is responsible for reviewing the management of human resources within the Agency and providing recommendations and advice on the Agency’s human resources management strategies, initiatives, and policies. | |
| Membership | Chair: | J. Nininger |
| Vice-Chair: | B. Smith | |
| Members: | B. Buckle, M. Dorais, H. Leeson, C. Roveto, S. Rudin | |
1 The Audit Committee Charter has been significantly strengthened to bring it in line with best practices and the general direction of the Government of Canada with regard to internal audit.
Appendix B – Organizational Structure
DG = Director General
Appendix C – Financial Tables
Table 1: Agency Planned Spending and Full-time Equivalents
| (thousands of dollars) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program Activity |
|
|
|
|
||
| Client Assistance1 |
329,501 |
324,494 |
319,935 |
320,783 |
||
| Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing |
763,229 |
786,751 |
768,968 |
766,389 |
||
| Filing and Remittance Compliance2 |
653,936 |
704,117 |
703,439 |
707,201 |
||
| Reporting Compliance |
1,033,296 |
1,106,654 |
1,099,472 |
1,098,854 |
||
| Appeals |
116,529 |
137,121 |
136,158 |
136,047 |
||
| Benefit Programs |
280,532 |
321,446 |
326,179 |
332,747 |
||
| Budgetary Main Estimates (gross) |
3,177,023 |
3,380,583 |
3,354,151 |
3,362,021 |
||
| Less: Revenues Credited to the Vote |
148,127 |
152,330 |
153,184 |
154,085 |
||
| Total Main Estimates |
3,028,896 |
3,228,253 |
3,200,967 |
3,207,936 |
||
| Adjustments |
|
|
|
|
||
| Carry Forward from 2004-2005 |
165,375 |
|
|
|
||
| Governor General Special Warrants |
|
|
|
|
||
| Budget Measures arising from the 2004 and 2005 Federal Budgets |
26,980 |
1,186 |
478 |
359 |
||
| Collective agreements/awards |
145,395 |
|
|
|
||
| Maternity and Severance Payments |
45,664 |
|
|
|
||
| Expenditure Review Announcements – Agency Initiatives |
(35,100) |
|
|
|
||
| Expenditure Review Announcements – E-Procurement |
(1,680) |
(7,070) |
|
|
||
| Technical Adjustments3 |
(31,820) |
87 |
|
|
||
| Governor General Special Warrants |
149,439 |
(5,797) |
478 |
359 |
||
| Technical Adjustments: |
|
|
|
|
||
| 2005-2006 Adjustment to Respendable Revenue Statutory Vote4 |
95,781 |
|
|
|
||
| 2005-2006 Adjustment to CPP/EI work |
5,923 |
|
|
|
||
| 2005-2006 Adjustment to Revenues Credited to the Vote 1 |
(5,247) |
|
|
|
||
| 2005-2006 Adjustment for the Children’s Special Allowance Statutory Authority |
10,000 |
|
|
|
||
| Technical Adjustments |
106,457 |
– |
– |
– |
||
| Total Adjustments |
421,271 |
(5,797) |
478 |
359 |
||
| Total Planned Spending |
3,450,167 |
3,222,456 |
3,201,445 |
3,208,295 |
||
| Less: | Respendable Revenue pursuant to CRA Act5 |
116,316 |
96,089 |
96,342 |
96,535 |
|
| Plus: | Cost of services received without charge6 |
474,444 |
467,158 |
467,158 |
467,158 |
|
| Total Agency Spending |
3,808,295 |
3,593,525 |
3,572,261 |
3,578,918 |
||
| Full-Time Equivalents |
37,498 |
38,303 |
38,293 |
38,291 |
||
1 To be named Taxpayer and Business Assistance.
2 To be named Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance.
3 Includes reduced requirements due to delays in passage of legislation for Offshore Trusts ($24.7 million) and Transfers to Department of Justice ($7 million).
4 Information technology services to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
5 Excludes Non-Respendable Non-Tax Revenue of $2.6 million (refer to Table 5.2 for details), for purposes of comparability with other government departments and agencies.
6 Refer to Table 4 for details.
Table 2: Resources by Program Activity for 2006-2007
| (thousands of dollars) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
||||||
| Program Activity |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Client Assistance |
323,494 |
1,000 |
324,494 |
(13,920) |
310,574 |
(738) |
309,836 |
| Assessment of Returns & Payment Processing1 |
786,751 |
|
786,751 |
(28,930) |
757,821 |
(1,728) |
756,093 |
| Filing and Remittance Compliance |
704,117 |
|
704,117 |
(88,764) |
615,353 |
(1,676) |
613,677 |
| Reporting Compliance |
1,106,654 |
|
1,106,654 |
(10,076) |
1,096,578 |
(2,013) |
1,094,565 |
| Appeals |
137,121 |
|
137,121 |
(8,580) |
128,541 |
(161) |
128,380 |
| Benefit Programs |
134,446 |
187,000 |
321,446 |
(2,060) |
319,386 |
519 |
319,905 |
| Total |
3,192,583 |
188,000 |
3,380,583 |
(152,330) |
3,228,253 |
(5,797) |
3,222,456 |
1 For 2006-2007, the payment to the Ministère du Revenu du Québec in respect of the joint administration cost of federal and provincial sales taxes totalling $156.2 million, is included in Operating.
Table 3: Voted and Statutory Items listed in Main Estimates
| Vote or Statutory Item | (thousands of dollars) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording |
|
|
|
1 |
Program expenditures1 |
2,551,607 |
2,317,891 |
|
5 |
Contributions |
|
115,000 |
|
(S) |
Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Western Economic Diversification – Salary and motor car allowance |
73 |
70 |
|
(S) |
Spending of revenues received through the conduct of its operations pursuant to Section 60 of the Canada Revenue Agency Act |
96,089 |
20,535 |
|
(S) |
Contributions to Employee Benefit Plans (EBP) |
393,484 |
408,400 |
|
(S) |
Children’s Special Allowance payments |
187,000 |
167,000 |
|
|
Total Agency2 |
3,228,253 |
3,028,896 |
1 For 2006-2007, the payment to the Ministère du Revenu du Québec in respect of the joint administration cost of federal and provincial sales taxes totalling $156.2 million, is included in Program expenditures. 2 The 2006-2007 Main Estimates for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) increased by $199.4 million from 2005-2006. The major differences include:
- 2 a net increase of $113.5 million related to the increase for collective agreements/awards offset by a reduction in the government-wide rate for Employee Benefit Plans (EBP) rate from 20% to 19%;
- 2 an increase of $13.2 million of the payment to the Ministère du Revenu du Québec for the joint administration of the federal/provincial sales taxes;
- 2 an increase of $75.4 million in Respendable Revenue related to the services provided by the CRA to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA);
- 2 an increase of $55.3 million to address legislative, policy and operational initiatives arising from the 2004 and 2005 Federal Budgets and other minor adjustments;
- 2 an increase of $20.0 million for the Children's Special Allowance related to allowances for eligible children in the care of specialized institutions;
- 2 offset by:
- 2 an increase of $4.2 million in revenues credited to the vote for work related to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP); and
- 2 a decrease of $73.8 million related to Expenditure Review Committee Savings for Departmental Initiatives and Procurement reductions.
Table 4: Services Received Without Charge
| (thousands of dollars) | |
|---|---|
| Accommodation provided by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) |
233,500 |
| Payroll Services provided by PWGSC |
1,434 |
| Contributions covering employer’s share of employees’ insurance premiums and expenditures (excluding revolving funds) and employer’s contribution to employees’ insured benefits plans and expenditures, both paid by Treasury Board |
165,678 |
| Salary and associated expenditures of legal services provided by Justice Canada |
62,894 |
| Audit Services by the Office of the Auditor General |
2,170 |
| Workers’ Compensation coverage provided by Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) |
1,482 |
| Total 2006-2007 Services received without charge1 |
467,158 |
1 Services received without charge are reported on a gross basis.
Table 5: Sources of Respendable Revenue and Non-Respendable Non-Tax Revenue
Table 5.1: Respendable Revenue
| (thousands of dollars) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program Activity |
|
|
|
|
|
| Client Assistance |
13,412 |
10,829 |
10,843 |
10,836 |
|
| Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing |
35,953 |
30,879 |
31,041 |
31,186 |
|
| Filing and Remittance Compliance |
25,006 |
20,417 |
20,420 |
20,432 |
|
| Reporting Compliance |
32,331 |
26,812 |
26,865 |
26,889 |
|
| Appeals |
3,087 |
2,539 |
2,542 |
2,545 |
|
| Benefit Programs |
6,527 |
4,613 |
4,631 |
4,647 |
|
| Total Respendable Revenue |
116,316 |
96,089 |
96,342 |
96,535 |
|
| Details |
|
|
|
|
|
| Refund of Previous Years’ Expenditures |
953 |
953 |
953 |
953 |
|
| Ruling Fees1 |
1,755 |
1,357 |
1,357 |
1,357 |
|
| Advance Pricing Agreement |
687 |
600 |
600 |
600 |
|
| Other Services of a Regulatory Nature |
64 |
20 |
20 |
16 |
|
| Administration of Provincial Programs2 |
15,604 |
14,105 |
14,269 |
14,410 |
|
| Other Services of a Non-Regulatory Nature |
823 |
1,063 |
1,100 |
1,120 |
|
| Sales of Goods and Information Products |
160 |
72 |
73 |
73 |
|
| Other Fees & Charges |
39 |
39 |
40 |
40 |
|
| Services to Other Government Departments3 |
96,231 |
77,880 |
77,930 |
77,966 |
|
| Total Respendable Revenue |
116,316 |
96,089 |
96,342 |
96,535 |
|
1 The CRA charges taxpayers (based on a regulated user fee) for providing tax rulings in advance of a transaction taking place (to provide tax certainty).
2 Comprised mostly of a basic fee charged to the provinces for recoveries provided under tax collection (TCA) and other agreements.
3 Comprising mainly of information technology services provided to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Table 5.2: Non Respendable Non-Tax Revenue
Table 6: Resource Requirements by Branch or Program Activity by Functional Organization for 2006-2007
| (thousands of dollars) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total Planned Spending1 |
|||||||||
| Functional Organization |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Assessment and Benefit Services Branch |
(44) |
358,717 |
|
– |
9,909 |
– |
257,843 |
626,425 |
|
| Taxpayer Services and Debt Management Branch |
124,737 |
– |
|
390,743 |
4,308 |
– |
19,796 |
|
539,584 |
| Compliance Programs Branch |
173 |
410 |
|
394 |
854,757 |
5,908 |
79 |
|
861,720 |
| Appeals Branch |
– |
– |
|
– |
– |
100,262 |
– |
|
100,262 |
| Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch |
70,568 |
3,754 |
|
11,477 |
4,331 |
433 |
722 |
|
91,285 |
| Corporate Strategies and Business Development Branch |
2,532 |
162,135 |
5,755 |
6,906 |
691 |
1,151 |
|
179,170 |
|
| Executive Office |
804 |
1,901 |
|
1,828 |
2,194 |
219 |
366 |
|
7,312 |
| Assistant Commissioners, Regional Operations |
3,293 |
7,783 |
|
7,484 |
8,981 |
898 |
1,497 |
|
29,936 |
| Information Technology Branch |
61,277 |
111,502 |
|
90,327 |
76,375 |
7,288 |
17,316 |
|
364,085 |
| Public Affairs Branch |
4,777 |
11,292 |
|
10,857 |
13,029 |
1,303 |
2,171 |
|
43,429 |
| Corporate Audit and Evaluation Branch |
1,159 |
2,739 |
|
2,634 |
3,161 |
316 |
527 |
|
10,535 |
| Finance and Administration Branch |
26,022 |
61,501 |
|
59,141 |
70,971 |
7,098 |
11,830 |
|
236,562 |
| Human Resources Branch |
14,567 |
34,431 |
|
33,107 |
39,728 |
3,973 |
6,621 |
|
132,426 |
| Total Planned Spending1 |
309,836 |
756,093 |
|
613,677 |
1,094,565 |
128,380 |
319,905 |
|
3,222,456 |
1 Any discrepancies in the sum of Total Planned Spending amounts can be attributed to rounding. 2 Includes Children’s Special Allowance payment of $187.0 million. 3 Includes payments to the Ministère du Revenu du Québec in respect of the joint administration of the federal and provincial sales taxes of $156.2 million.
Table 7: Details on Transfer Payment Programs (TPPs)
1 Starting in 2006-2007, the payment to the Ministère du Revenu du Québec in respect of the joint administration cost of federal and provincial sales taxes totalling $156.2 million, is included in Operating.
Table 8: CRA Major Investment Initiatives 2006-2007 to 2008-2009
Table 9: Asset Management Plan 2006-2007 to 2008-2009
Appendix D – Service Standards
External service standards publicly state the level of performance that citizens can reasonably expect to encounter from the Canada Revenue Agency under normal circumstances. The CRA is committed to developing, monitoring, and reporting on a full suite of service standards in areas of importance to taxpayers and benefit recipients. Service standards also support our commitment to Canadians for transparency, management accountability, and citizen-centred service.
By promoting predictable, timely and responsive service, service standards help facilitate Canadians’ compliance with tax and benefits legislation and support CRA’s program administration. Service standards are also the cornerstone of the CRA’s performance measurement system. As noted in the Auditor General’s assessment in our 2004-2005 Annual Report, the CRA’s service standards are clear, concrete, and measurable; and the reader can easily determine whether they have been met. Our service standards are now aligned to the new Program Activity Architecture. Reporting on our performance against our service standards constitutes one indicator of the results achieved with the resources allocated to a given program activity or sub-activity.
Management sets targets that represent the percentage or degree of expected attainment of an established standard. Targets are based on operational realities and infrastructure, historical performance, degree of complexity of the work, and Canadians’ expectations. For example, standards for front-end processing generally have shorter time frames and/or higher targets, while those requiring greater review and analysis have lengthier time standards and/or lower targets. Performance that drops significantly below targets signals to managers that remedial action may be necessary.
Meeting our targets for service standards demonstrates that the organization is responsive to taxpayer and business needs. This helps establish credibility in our operations and contributes, as Citizens First research has determined, to increasing the level of confidence that Canadians place in government.
The CRA continues to examine opportunities for introducing new service standards to keep pace with changes in technology and business processes, as well as with our evolving service strategy. We draw on our experience in working with our service standards to revise, adjust or even delete existing standards, as appropriate.
As specified in the Canada Revenue Agency’s Guide to Service Standards, new standards, as well as revisions to existing ones or their targets, must receive final approval through the Corporate Business Plan.
Introduction of new service standards
In 2006-2007, we will introduce three new standards. These relate to client and taxpayer requests for statistical data as required under the revised User Fee Act, assessing Excise Tax, Excise Duty and Air Travellers Security Charge returns, and providing GST/HST rulings and interpretations.
Exhibit 1: New Service Standards for implementation in 2006-2007
| Program Activity | Service Standard | Target |
|---|---|---|
| For implementation | ||
| Client Assistance (Tax and Regulatory Affairs) | 75% | |
| Assessment of Returns and Payment Processing | 95% | |
| Corporate Services | 100% | |
Deletions and adjustments
Also in 2006-2007, we will delete two existing service standards and re-evaluate the need for another, while developing revised standards for still others.
Specifically, to reflect the evolution of our service delivery strategy, we will delete the current service standard for counter service wait time, as of April 1, 2006. We are refining our current walk-in service to provide taxpayers and benefit recipients with a more timely, accessible, reliable and fair service at an affordable cost. Our strategy over the next few years will be to migrate taxpayers and benefit recipients to self-serve options, and to offer in-person service by appointment, as required; as a result, the counter service wait time service standard is no longer appropriate. Once the transition has taken place, we will consider establishing service standards appropriate to adjusted service offerings.
We are also deleting our existing service standard for Statement of Arrears (SOA) as of April 1, 2006. The CRA is undertaking a re-engineering of the SOA process to reduce the duplication of documentation sent to taxpayers; options under consideration would result in reduced paper burden, consistent with sustainable development objectives. Further consultation will take place with taxpayers and internal stakeholders. The Agency will continue to monitor and report on its goal of mailing out remaining SOAs on time (target 95 percent) as an operational standard.
Last year, approval was given to introduce a service standard for T1 publications, requiring them to be 100 percent ready for delivery by a specified date. We are currently reviewing the need for an official service standard for this workload. Nonetheless, the CRA will continue to manage the workloads in accordance with internal target dates for issuing publications.
Finally, as a result of the re-engineering of the compliance processes for Registered Pension Plans (RPPs), the CRA is looking at changes to existing service standards in this area and consulting with its Pension Advisory Committee. The RPP service standards will be restated to better reflect the way our programs will be delivered. The goal is to implement new standards by April 1, 2006.
Exhibit 2: Changes proposed for 2006-2007
Service standards under development
The CRA also remains committed to improving service and developing new service standards, as shown by our ongoing work listed below.
Exhibit 3: Developments planned for 2006-2007 to 2008-2009
Reporting
We report externally on our overall performance against our service standards in the CRA’s Annual Report, found at: www.cra-arc.gc.ca/agency/annual/menu-e.html. More information on our 2004-2005 performance can be found at: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/servicestandards/
Exhibit 4: Service Standards in effect in 2006-2007 (according to Program Activity Architecture)
Appendix E – Sustainable Development Strategy
The Canada Revenue Agency’s sustainable development vision is “to be a globally recognized organization for best practices for sustainable development”.
The Agency is committed to establishing baselines and measures for paper consumption, green procurement, solid waste diversion from landfill, fleet efficiency, outside emissions (pollution) generated by employee and business travel, and employee sustainable development awareness. In addition, a new performance measurement system to enhance monitoring and reporting of the strategy is under development and will be presented to BoM for consideration.
The Agency outlined mini-strategies to facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Strategy as well as expected results.
The National Action Plan6 drives the Sustainable Development Strategy, which:
- details the goals, objectives, targets, activities, timelines, offices of responsibility, performance measures, and data collection methods
- consists of four goals, nine objectives, twenty-two targets, and eighty-two activities to be completed over the three-year period—work that includes reducing air pollution, and increasing purchase of environmentally preferred goods
- is supported by individual branch and regional action plans, developed through a consultative process and approved by respective Assistant Commissioners
Environmental Management Programs (EMPs) form an important part of the National Action Plan. EMPs are individual work plans used to systematically manage the Agency’s environmental responsibilities through the identification of opportunities, as well as the establishment, implementation, monitoring and reporting on targets. The Agency currently has EMPs that address its significant environmental aspects of fleet, green procurement, solid and hazardous wastes, internal paper, and outside emissions.
In compliance with the Auditor General Act (1995), the Agency will conduct extensive consultations to prepare the Sustainable Development Strategy 2007-2010 for tabling in Parliament by December 2006. The goals and targets of the new strategy are anticipated to remain consistent with the current strategy with increased emphasis on the social aspects of sustainability.
CRA’s Sustainable Development Strategy and additional information on the Sustainable Development program are available on the CRA Web site at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/agency/sustainable/.
Appendix F – Glossary
1 to be named Taxpayer and Business Assistance
2 to be named Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance
3 to be named Taxpayer and Business Assistance
3 2 to be named Enquiries and Information Services
4 to be named Accounts Receivable and Returns Compliance
5 to be named Benefit Enquiries
6 The National Action Plan for Sustainable Development is updated annually.