Canada's Taxpayers' Ombudsperson, Mr. François Boileau, released his annual report, Fair Access to Service, which was tabled yesterday in the House of Commons by Ms. Iqra Khalid, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue. The report provides an overview of the activities of the Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson (OTO) between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024.
The report details how the OTO influenced service improvements at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by reviewing service issues and complaints. It also includes three recommendations to the Minister of National Revenue and the Chair of the Board of Management to improve the CRA's service to Canadians.
Through the lens of how the OTO's work can be a catalyst for change at the CRA, the first section of the report examines complaint trends for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, during which the OTO made a difference by:
- answering over 4500 enquiries
- receiving over 2800 complaints
- referring almost 1400 complaints to CRA Service Feedback
- prioritizing over 500 complaints and requesting that the CRA review the taxpayer's issue urgently
These were the highest number of complaints and enquiries the OTO has ever received outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report also explains how the OTO influenced change at the CRA through requests for service improvement, and it describes the CRA's actions resulting from these requests. For example, in March 2024, the Ombudsperson requested that the CRA make changes to prevent an issue blocking callers from reaching its contact centres during regular hours of service. As a result, the CRA changed its telephone system to allow callers to access its Individual Tax, Benefits, and Business Enquiries telephone lines during all hours in which the contact centres were open across Canada, regardless of the area code or time zone of the caller.
Additionally, the report analyzes the CRA's efforts to make sure vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations get the benefits and credits they are entitled to. It analyzes the CRA's existing programs, including the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program and SimpleFile by Phone, and discusses how they could be improved to better meet Canadians' needs.
2023-2024 report highlights:
Recommendations
The Taxpayers' Ombudsperson recommends:
1. (…) that the CRA actively work to harmonize the operating hours of the services it provides so that residents across the country receive equal hours of service during the same operating hours depending on the various time zones in the country, to ensure equal availability of services to residents across the country.
2. (…) that the CRA define the eligibility criteria for the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) and the Income Tax Assistance - Volunteer Program (ITAVP) in Quebec, to allow self-employed individuals with a modest income and simple expenses, access to free tax clinics where such a service can be made available.
3. (…) that the CRA:
a) Provide a permanent grant program for organizations participating in the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) and the Income Tax Assistance - Volunteer Program (ITAVP); and
b) Continue to provide supplemental grant amounts to those that serve Indigenous communities and those organizations that operate in northern, rural and remote communities.
Trends in complaints
1. Collection actions: The CRA fully resumed collection activities in February 2023 after they were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. When compared with the previous fiscal year (April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023), this fiscal year saw more than double the number of complaints and more than triple the number of enquiries related to a CRA collection issue.
2. Quality of service provided by CRA contact centres: CRA contact centres continued to generate complaints. For many years, Canadians have made us aware of their dissatisfaction with this service. Some of the issues raised by Canadians related to excessive wait times, receiving conflicting or inconsistent information, agent behaviour, and calls being dropped prematurely.
3. Delays in receiving notices of assessment and refunds: We heard that the CRA was taking too long to process income tax and benefit returns and send the related notices of assessment.
4. Delays in obtaining the Canada child benefit (CCB): Canadians told us that they experienced delays in the CRA processing their CCB applications and in verifying their eligibility. We also heard from Canadians that they received benefits late due to delays in the CRA processing their income tax and benefit returns. We noted these issues particularly when it was not clear to the CRA who was primarily responsible for the care of the child.
5. Delays in resolving service complaints: The CRA's service standard to resolve complaints is 30 business days from when they receive it. We heard from taxpayers who said the CRA took much longer and were not satisfied with the length of time the CRA took to respond.
Background information
The Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson works independently from the CRA. Canadians can submit complaints to the Office if they feel they are not receiving the appropriate service from the CRA. Our main objective is to improve the service the CRA provides to taxpayers and benefit recipients by reviewing individual service complaints and service issues that affect more than one person or a segment of the population.
The Taxpayers' Ombudsperson assists, advises and informs the Minister of National Revenue about matters relating to services provided by the CRA. The Ombudsperson ensures, in particular, that the CRA respects eight of the service rights outlined in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
