CRA Annual Report to Parliament 2011-2012 (PDF - Agence du ...

[services]
service complaints
Our Service Complaints program helps identify problems
and propose solutions, and it provides taxpayers with a
formal avenue of redress related to the services they have
received. If taxpayers are not satisfied with how we
resolved their service complaint, they can then go to the
next step and notify the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman.
During 2011-2012, the CRA:
resolved 2,347 service complaints; and
resolved taxpayers’ complaints within 30 business
days 94.5% of the time.
We conduct analysis and track
trends on service issues so that
we continue to improve service
and fix the root cause of these
complaints. Using public opinion
research, we discovered that not
many people know about the
CRA Service Complaints
program. We took the following
actions to address this during
2011-2012:
developed and promoted
a CRA brochure on
service complaints;
updated the complaints and disputes pages on the
CRA Web site with improved information and
easier navigation to make information easier to
access by taxpayers, tax intermediaries, and
benefit recipients;
delivered webinars to members of Parliament and
their staff about the Taxpayer Bill of Rights and the
CRA service complaints process; and
developed a new CRA brochure about complaints
and disputes that will be available in 2012-2013.
ANNUAL REPORT
2011-2012
CANADA REVENUE AGENCY
[disputes]
The CRA manages a function that provides a timely,
impartial, and consistent review process to resolve
disputes arising from decisions we have made under the
laws we administer. We deal with disputes that arise from
assessments of income tax, excise tax, goods and services
tax, harmonized sales tax, benefit programs, softwood
lumber products export, air traveller security, and
charities.
During 2011-2012:
did you know? The
Taxpayer Bill of Rights
is a set of 15 rights that
confirm our commitment
to serve you with
professionalism,
courtesy, and fairness.
we resolved almost 77,000 disputes; and
we received 15.6% fewer income tax disputes.
We conduct these reviews by actively engaging in
dialogue with the taxpayer.
Decisions must be in keeping with
applicable legislation and must
result in a fair and equitable
treatment of taxpayers. To ensure
impartiality, when taxpayers file a
notice of objection, their review is
completed by an appeals officer
who was not involved in the
original assessment or
reassessment.
reviews
The regular redress workload
includes objections to income tax
and GST/HST assessments from taxpayers, whether
individuals or businesses, corporations, or other entities,
that disagree with an initial assessment. We generally
receive between 55,000 and 65,000 regular objections a
year, and we close a similar number. This workload
includes some of CRA’s most complex files, and may
involve issues such as international transfer pricing and
the application of the General Anti-Avoidance Rule.