Original report submitted to the Minister of National Revenue December 2019.

Improving the Canada Revenue Agency’s Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.

Recommendation #1

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) continue to minimize and, where possible, remove barriers to accessing services through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP), including:

1. Increase the number of walk-in and mobile clinics;
2. Allow volunteers to meet with and assist individuals in filing their income tax and benefit returns via telephone;
3. Expand the services CVITP volunteers can provide online;
4. Inform CVITP volunteers of exceptions to the requirement that, if using EFILE, the income tax and benefit return must be transmitted to the Canada Revenue Agency within 48 hours of preparation;
5. Update information to make it clear when income tax and benefit returns reporting tax-exempt income may be completed through the CVITP; and provide the required year-round, tailored and ongoing support to and training for CVITP partner organizations and volunteers to enable the filing of these returns;
6. Improve training and communication products for CRA agents on the CVITP dedicated telephone line regarding authentication and authorization measures to ensure consistency of application and the appropriate use of judgment specific to the particular circumstances of the caller; and
7. Continue to work with partner organizations, CVITP volunteers, and other persons working with low income and/or vulnerable individuals to simplify the authentication process to request information, while protecting the confidentiality of information.

CRA’s response

The CRA is in agreement with the overall recommendation to continue to remove barriers to the use of the CVITP.

The CRA recognizes the importance of the CVITP and has taken many steps to reduce and/or remove barriers to those wanting to access the program.

For example:

• The number of walk-in and mobile clinics increased by 600 (95.5%) between the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 fiscal years. Increased take up is expected to continue beyond 2020.
• The CRA has expanded the online services available to volunteers and organizations with the addition of the Auto-Fill My Return (AFR) feature, and will continue to explore opportunities to support more online services where appropriate in the future.
• New partnerships have been developed with professional associations and community organizations, resulting in continued growth of the program.

A key consideration when exploring the feasibility of expanding services is the protection of client information. CVITP volunteers do not have the ability to access taxpayer information via CRA systems in order to validate the taxpayer’s identify. As a result, it is not possible for volunteers to provide assistance by phone. The CRA is not prepared to change its position in this regard and will not pursue this aspect of the recommendation further.

The following actions have been taken or are underway and will be in place by December 2020, in advance of the next tax filing season:

• Updating training modules for CVITP volunteers. Existing training modules will be refreshed and new modules created to provide additional information on the following topics:
  • The need for EFILE returns to be transmitted within 48 hours;
  • Targeted situations such as the handling of tax exempt income for Indigenous peoples and;
  • Information on the CVITP program overall.
• An increase in program-dedicated staff in both Headquarters and the regions.
  • This expansion includes additional "year-round" tax clinics and more outreach activities to vulnerable population segments including Indigenous peoples, newcomers and refugees, seniors, youth, persons with disabilities, modest income Canadians, and homeless and housing insecure individuals.
  • Increased CRA support in the solicitation of volunteers, to allow organizations and clinics to, at their discretion, provide year-round, tailored and ongoing support to and training of partner organizations and volunteers to enable the filing of returns.
• Improved training for phone agents responding to calls on the dedicated CVITP line to ensure that "exception type" situations are appropriately addressed.

2021 Update

The CRA Response to the Recommendation

#1 A through C (Recommendations fulfilled).

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is committed to minimizing, and where possible removing barriers to accessing services through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP).

Under normal circumstances, CVITP clinics are held in libraries, community centres and other such venues. Due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, many community organizations had to scale back or close their free tax clinic services, which include walk-in, by appointment and mobile clinics. In May 2020, the CRA announced that virtual tax clinics would be held on an interim basis to address this gap in service. This allowed volunteers to contact taxpayers via virtual means such as by videoconference, by phone or through a document drop-off, and pick-up arrangement. The volunteers are able to complete a tax return by communicating with a taxpayer electronically by videoconference, by email and/or over the telephone. The overall number of tax clinics were down in 2020, however despite facing such significant obstacles, the program still helped over 407,000 people over the 2019-2020 program year (May 16th, 2019 to May 15th, 2020). An additional 182,800 people were helped virtually from May 16, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

To develop the CVITP virtual clinics, the CRA engaged with stakeholders to inform the way forward and obtain feedback on the new processes. Over 140 organizations were invited to one of four regional sessions, with 162 individuals taking part. By engaging CVITP organizations and volunteers in the development of the virtual clinics, the CRA was able to proactively address stakeholder comments. This allowed the CRA to develop a secure yet accessible approach to the validation of CVITP client identities.

The CRA Response to the Recommendation

#1 D (Recommendations fulfilled).

The CRA amended CVITP training modules to better explain exceptions to the requirement that, if using EFILE, the income tax and benefit return must be transmitted to the CRA within 48 hours of preparation. The updated messaging is: Volunteers must transmit each person’s return immediately after its preparation. However, there are circumstances when this may not be possible (i.e. no Wi-Fi). In instances where a return cannot be transmitted immediately, the return must be transmitted as soon as possible. Volunteers must delete all electronic documents, any notes and the saved return no later than 48 hours after it has been accepted by CRA.

The CRA Response to the Recommendation

#1 E (Recommendations fulfilled).

The CVITP training for organizations and volunteers was updated to provide resources for income tax and benefit returns reporting tax-exempt income. The tax exempt information is included in the Indigenous frequent client scenarios, including Canada Emergency Response Benefit (T4A+T4E) and T90 information. These updates were implemented in 2020.

CRA Response to the Recommendation

#1 F.

The CRA is currently reviewing Training for the Dedicated Line (DL) for release in Winter 2022.

The CRA Response to the Recommendation

#1 G.

With the introduction of virtual tax clinics during the 2020 tax filing season, organizations and volunteers are able to use alternative options to authenticate the identify of a taxpayer in order to provide assistance:

The community organizations knows the individual taxpayer.

The Autofill My Return (AFR) service which provides the volunteer with information about the client that can be used to ask basic questions.

Through videoconferencing services.

The volunteer requests a CRA agent contact the volunteer to authenticate their identify on behalf of the community organization.

The CRA is also reviewing training for the Dedicated Line (DL) agents and will look at authentication and authorization measures and the appropriate use of judgment in specific circumstances of the caller where feasible, while also respecting confidentiality measures (release in December 2022)

2022 Update

Regarding Recommendation 1(f), the CRA reviews training material for the Dedicated Line on an annual basis. In an effort to continue to simplify the process, the CRA will continue to review training for Dedicated Line agents, and will study authentication measures, as well as the appropriate use of judgment in specific circumstances of the caller where feasible, while also respecting confidentiality measures. In response to Recommendation 1(g), the CRA has introduced alternative options to authenticate the identity of a taxpayer in order to provide assistance, including:

• The community organizations’ knowledge of the individual taxpayer.
• The Autofill My Return (AFR) service which provides the volunteer with information about the client that can be used to ask basic questions.
• Through videoconferencing services.
• The volunteer requests a CRA agent contact the volunteer to authenticate their identify on behalf of the community organization. In response to the Ombudsperson’s recommendation, the CRA will continue to explore options to simplify the authentication process on an ongoing basis.

Recommendation #2

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency broaden the scope of the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) by providing the necessary information, and year-round tailored and ongoing support to and training for CVITP partner organizations and volunteers, to implement the following changes:

1. Further increase the income threshold;
2. The preparation of income tax and benefit returns and applications for different types of income, benefits, credits, and deductions; and
3. The provision of assistance to individuals for CRA review and verification processes.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with the overall recommendation to provide increased support to clients who access the CVITP.

The CVITP has been designed as a partnership with community organizations and their volunteers. The role of the program is one of support and guidance (i.e. providing training, tax software, promotional products, hardware (through the computer donation program), a dedicated telephone line for CVITP volunteers, and support from local CVITP coordinators. The role of community organizations is to organize and manage tax preparation clinics (i.e. recruit volunteers, establish 'office hours', etc.) and arrange for their volunteers to prepare the returns.

The CRA has improved training material on existing tax scenarios which include different types of income and has added new tax scenarios for the 2020 Filing Season. The CRA plans to consult with partner organizations and volunteers after the filing season to obtain feedback and identify any gaps.

The CVITP provides organizations with recommended guidelines to assist taxpayers with modest incomes and simple tax situations, but the program does not limit the types of returns that can be filed, this is left to the discretion of the volunteers.

The CRA confirms that the thresholds are suggested income levels only and the organizations can increase them at their discretion. The CRA recognizes however, that in some cases, increasing the thresholds could have an adverse impact on the clinic’s capacity to serve those most in need.

The CRA will provide increased support in the solicitation of volunteers to allow organizations and clinics to, at their discretion, adjust the accepted income thresholds which will allow clinics to assist even more Canadians in filing their taxes.

The CVITP will explore opportunities to increase awareness of the review and verification process and will investigate the support needed to enable clinics to assist clients under review by December 2020.

As a result of increased funding, the CRA will continue to expand the program, thereby helping thousands more individuals complete their taxes and access benefits to which they are entitled. This will be accomplished through an increase in program-dedicated staff in both Headquarters and the regions. This expansion includes additional "year-round" tax clinics and more outreach activities to vulnerable population segments including Indigenous peoples, newcomers and refugees, seniors, youth, persons with disabilities, modest income Canadians, and homeless and housing insecure individuals.

2021 Update

The CRA Response to the Recommendation

#2 A and B (Recommendation fulfilled).

Income thresholds are suggested levels only and the organizations can increase them at their discretion. Information is provided on the CRA website and also shared with organizations and volunteers. The CRA website also includes the following Note:

Organizations can modify the total family income based on the local economic environment, the population they serve, and their resources. Community organizations may also establish additional criteria.

In 2020, in response the COVID-19 pandemic, the CRA launched virtual tax clinics. The CRA continues to support CVITP virtual clinics for the 2021 filing season. Virtual clinics address many of the recommendations put forward by the Office of the Taxpayers Ombudsperson. Please refer to the list below:

• Virtual clinics are an accessible option for volunteers and organizations who want to continue to help complete tax returns while still following physical distancing rules during the pandemic.
• Virtual clinics offer organizations the opportunity to grow their volunteer base by recruiting volunteers from outside their local community.
• Organizations can host different types of virtual clinics, depending on their preference and on the technology accessible to their volunteers and the individuals they serve. There are three types of virtual clinics available: video conferencing; telephone; or modified drop-off clinic. Organizations can decide to use all, some or none of these options.
• Virtual volunteers can participate with organizations outside their local community, and can complete tax returns for individuals from across their province. Volunteer training modules include several tax scenarios (including the latest COVID-19 measures) and provide comprehensive information on how to file a return with tax exempt income, pension income, social assistance, the disability tax credit and more. This allows volunteers to, potentially, help more people with different tax situations.
• Virtual clinics provide an important service to individuals who, due to the pandemic or other physical barriers, may not have access to an in-person tax clinic location.

To support the CVITP virtual clinics initiative, the CRA developed a internal authentication process to confirm the identity of taxpayers in situations where a volunteer is unable to do so. Virtual tax clinic volunteers can use various methods to authenticate the identity of the CVITP client and subsequently complete their return. If a CVITP volunteer is unable to authenticate the individual’s identity by one of the other options, a CVITP volunteer can contact the CRA through a dedicated email address. A CRA phone officer will then call the client to confirm their identity over the phone. This authentication service has allowed the CRA to provide an accessible virtual clinics service and ensure clients who do not have access to a computer/personal electronic device may still file their income tax and benefit return(s) with the CVITP.

The CRA Response to the Recommendation

#2 C.

This initiative has been delayed due to shifts in the CVITP’s focus in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CRA continues to explore and improve upon the CVITP’s tools annually and will include this item during the next review (December 2021).

2022 Update

With regards to 2 c, the CVITP online training provides resources to volunteers on how to complete a T1 Adjustment request and includes information on how to access the dedicated volunteer phone line for additional assistance. The CVITP will continue to explore opportunities to increase awareness of the review and verification process through volunteer education.

There is an abundance of information available through the General Income Tax and Benefit Guide, the “Learn about your taxes” online learning tool, and other sources online. Taxpayers can obtain direct assistance through CRA call centres, and the CRA has a well-established appeals process in place, available to all clients.

Recommendation #3

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) continue to grow and improve the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP). In so doing, it is recommended the CRA:

1. Measure and assess the effects and impact of changes made to the CVITP;
2. Consult existing stakeholders;
3. Consult a wide variety of sources and potential stakeholders, including organizations assisting vulnerable populations but who do not currently participate in the CVITP;
4. Use all existing research, data and information available to the CRA; and
5. Invest in research and development.

It is recommended that when changes are made to the CVITP the CRA provide the necessary information, and year-round, tailored and ongoing support to and training for partner organizations and volunteers to implement the changes.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

The ultimate goal of the CVITP is to help as many people as possible.

To further this goal, the CRA:

• Conducted annual surveys over the past two years with organizations and volunteers to assess the program effectiveness and impacts of new CRA initiatives, such as Auto-fill my return.
• Recently created the Strategic Partnerships Section in order to consult with, and add to its list of existing stakeholders which includes other government departments and non-government organization in an effort to expand the program’s reach to vulnerable populations. The section maintains partnerships through regular engagement with organizations through Headquarters and in collaboration with the regions.
• Developed business intelligence tools to provide information on where to target efforts to increase CVITP coverage in geographical areas where there are gaps in service to segments of the population, such as a tool which allows users to target grouped taxpayers by:
  • Income types such as, employment income, old age security, pension income, social assistance, and workers compensation;
  • Grouped levels of income;
  • Number of benefit recipients.

The CRA will continue to invest in research and development as well as continue to leverage its business intelligence tools to better target its efforts to deliver services to vulnerable populations, and where possible, in a cohesive manner with other government departments and agencies.

Recommendation #4

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency proactively communicate all changes to, and affecting, the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program in a timely and clear manner, by multiple methods, to partner organizations, volunteers, and potential partner organizations, and provide any necessary training.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

The CRA leverages a multitude of formats to communicate and promote the CVITP. It communicates changes to the CVITP as well as changes affecting the program through biweekly regional teleconferences, an annual Community Outreach and Support Division conference, Wiki discussion boards, social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube), promo cards, and posters.

The CRA developed a web-based training product and will ensure that all changes affecting CVITP organizations and volunteers are incorporated in a timely manner.

The CRA will continue to leverage its existing networks and processes as well as work with its communications team to identify opportunities to expand its reach.

Recommendation #5

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency ensure the quality of the best practices and services it provides for the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program are consistent throughout Canada while ensuring these best practices and services are reflective of, and meet the needs of, the diverse regional, geographic, socio-economic, workforce, and vulnerable sectors throughout Canada.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

The CRA strives to improve the quality and consistency of service to Canadians nationally. It actively promotes the sharing and implementation of best practices by its program coordinators through internal communication vehicles such as biweekly regional teleconferences, the annual Community Outreach and Support Division conference, and Wiki discussion boards accessible to CVITP staff nationwide.

The CRA’s overhauled training product and improved communication mechanisms such as, increased use of the Wiki system to provide updates from headquarters to the regions and a streamlined functional structure within headquarters, will help to facilitate the timely education of volunteers with regards to changes in tax policy and/or processing that may impact program clients.

In addition to the initiatives already identified and currently in place, the CRA will continue to leverage its existing networks and processes to identify opportunities to improve communication with volunteers.

Recommendation #6

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency develop a volunteer retention and recruitment strategy, including necessary actions to ensure there are sufficient partner organizations, volunteers, resources, and filing methods, to expand Community Volunteer Income Tax Program services, especially in remote areas.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

In February 2019, the CRA opened three northern service centres in Whitehorse, Yellowknife, and Iqaluit to provide increased tax support to individuals and businesses throughout the territories year-round. This was in response to feedback received through the CRA’s Serving You Better consultations and as a result of recent research on barriers to tax filing. CRA employees in these centres are working to increase the awareness of benefits and credits among territorial residents, expand the CVITP, and help businesses meet their tax obligations.

The CRA has recently restructured functional operations to place an increased focus on national partnerships and increased regional resources to ensure that organizations receive support to offer year-round tax clinics. Building new national partnerships, will contribute to the recruitment of additional volunteers as well as organizations offering tax clinics. The CRA will develop a strategy to articulate these steps by September 2020. In addition, the CRA is committed to increasing volunteer retention and recruitment by utilizing business intelligence to identify areas of greatest need, where gaps exist in terms of eligible tax filers, and where there is a requirement for additional tax clinics.

The CRA will explore the feasibility of seeking financial authorities to pursue grants and contributions that could further help organizations in their retention and recruitment of volunteers.

The CRA has also improved outreach and CVITP products by developing products in a number of third languages, updating products and new materials to demystify the CVITP for potential volunteers, and organizations to draw more people into the program.

2021 Update

The CRA Response to Recommendation #6 (Recommendations fulfilled).

The CRA is committed to developing its CVITP volunteer retention and recruitment strategy to improve the program’s service delivery.

The CVITP’s digital services help bridge the gap between organizations, volunteers, and clients by helping to connect all of the various players in the program. Furthermore, the CVITP’s digital registration and online search tools not only direct potential clients to local clinics, but also facilitate connecting those who wish to volunteer with organizations that are looking for help. CVITP virtual tax clinics also have the benefit of reaching remote locations where individuals must otherwise travel vast distances in order to attend traditional in-person tax clinics.

The CRA continues to recruit partner organizations and volunteers to expand the CVITP’s services, especially in remote areas.

On January 7, 2021, the Minister of Revenue announced the CVITP grant program. Volunteers from community organizations across Canada help eligible people do their taxes for free through the CRA’s CVITP or through Revenue Quebec’s Income Tax Assistance – Volunteer Program (ITAVP). The CVITP Grant helps off-set costs incurred by community organizations that host free tax clinics and provides funding for income tax returns filed. The CVITP Grant is being piloted over the next three years. The grant opened in February 2021 for organizations and the CRA began accepting grant applications for funding in May 2021. This grant is administered by the CRA.

The CRA continues to develop its CVITP training and product materials to meet the needs of organizations and volunteers, and CRA agents on the CVITP dedicated telephone line. The CVITP Webinar/PowerPoint was re-designed for the 2021 tax season. Training is now integrating more comprehensive CRA messaging (i.e. Canada Emergency Response Benefit and Work from Home in What's New 2020). To ensure timely dissemination of information to CVITP organizations and volunteers, the CRA continues to modify CVITP processes to be more agile with integrating policy or program changes (i.e. refining PowerPoint topics). Additionally, the CRA updates its CVITP webpage as policy and procedure changes are implemented (i.e. Virtual Clinics are included in the volunteer training website landing page).

Recommendation #7

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency actively pursue, create new, and build on existing, flexible and creative areas of partnership, including those outlined in the report, to provide improved services through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

The CRA will expand its partnerships by focusing on new opportunities for expansion with other federal government departments and tax practitioner associations.

The CRA recently created the Strategic Partnerships Section to work collaboratively with other government departments and non-government organizations, to expand the reach of the CVITP to vulnerable populations. The section also maintains and will be expanding upon partnerships through regular engagement with organizations through CRA headquarters and in collaboration with the regions. The CRA has already begun this work and will continue to build on these steps.

Recommendation #8

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency create and/or improve upon mechanisms for matching volunteers with partner organizations, and for matching organizations that have one or more, but not all elements required to host a clinic, such as space, volunteers, coordinators, and potential users, so additional clinics can be hosted; both in online self-serve options and through CRA CVITP coordinator involvement.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

The CRA currently provides all of its registered volunteers with available clinics based on geographical location.

The CRA agrees to provide assistance to organizations in identifying nearby existing clinics which could partner together by utilizing business intelligence data. The CRA also agrees to explore other mechanisms to match clients with clinics and volunteers. The CRA will work to have new solutions in place by December 2020, in advance of the next tax filing season.

2021 Update

CRA Response to Recommendation #8.

This initiative has been delayed due to shifts in the CVITP’s focus in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the CRA continues to explore and improve upon the CVITP’s tools and the business intelligence needed to adapt to the current situation and improve for the future. Plans to explore improvements to mechanisms for matching organizations and volunteers is slated for the November 2021.

2022 Update

The CRA has modified the role of CVITP Coordinators. As Volunteer and Outreach Officers, they are responsible for creating partnerships with organizations in the community for both CVITP clinics and Benefits Outreach. This collaboration helps to identify new organizations that are willing to share their space, host a tax clinic, and recruit potential volunteers. Once these resources have been identified, CVITP Coordinators start the matching process between partner organizations, as well as between organizations and volunteers. Sometimes organizations and volunteers are matched on the spot during Outreach activities.

With the implementation of virtual clinics, volunteers have the option of providing services to organizations across their province. This has made the matching of volunteers with partner organizations significantly easier. They can now be affiliated with any organizations in their province that are providing virtual tax clinics. Volunteers can also choose to volunteer with virtual clinics in Northern communities across Canada.

Recommendation #9

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) ensure its policies and procedures promote and require direct, timely, and fulsome sharing of information between the CRA regions and headquarters, at the level of the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program coordinators, Outreach planning officers, and Partnerships officers.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

The CRA strives to improve the quality and consistency of service to Canadians nationally. It actively promotes the sharing and implementation of best practices by its program coordinators through internal communication vehicles such as biweekly regional teleconferences, the annual Community Outreach and Support Division conference, and Wiki discussion boards accessible to CVITP staff nationwide.

At a recent national program meeting, concrete protocols for communicating between Headquarters and the regions were established and agreed upon. These protocols will ensure timely and consistent messages are shared throughout the program nation-wide, and at all levels. The CRA will ensure that these newly established communication protocols are followed and adhered to.

Recommendation #10

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends a significant portion of the Budget 2018 funding for the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program to be used to provide resources and support directly to partner organizations and volunteers.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with the overall recommendation to provide increased support to the CVITP organizations.

Due to an increase in funding, the CRA will be able to continue to expand the program, thereby helping thousands more individuals complete their taxes and access benefits to which they are entitled.

This is currently being accomplished through an increase in program-dedicated staff in both Headquarters and the regions which will result in additional support being provided to organizations. The CRA’s efforts have achieved positive results in 2019, with new volunteer training products being developed, a 13.3% increase in participating organizations, and an 8.5% increase in the number of participating volunteers. The number of individuals helped also increased by 5.3% which represents nearly 40,000 more taxpayers assisted by the program, thus enabling them to access the benefits and credits to which they are entitled.

Please also see response to recommendation #11.

2022 Update

Please also see update to recommendation #11.

Recommendation #11

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends that a grants and contribution program be reinstated for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), or that other legal and financial authorities be obtained, for the CRA to provide more effective support and resources directly to the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program partner organizations and volunteers.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with the overall recommendation to provide increased support to the CVITP organizations.

The CRA does not currently have the financial authority to provide funding to community organizations and their volunteers, however it does provide various other resources and support to partner organizations and volunteers such as, training, tax preparation software, promotional products, hardware (for example, through the computer donation program), a dedicated telephone line for CVITP volunteers, and support from local CVITP coordinators.

The CRA will explore the feasibility of seeking financial authorities to pursue grants and contributions that could further help organizations in their retention and recruitment of volunteers.

Recommendation #12

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency simplify the registration process for Community Volunteer Income Tax Program partner organizations and volunteers.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

The CRA agrees that simplifying the registration process could ease the burden while increasing the number of volunteers by the next tax filing season. The CRA will streamline the online application process for volunteers and will continue to explore ways of simplifying the registration process for volunteers while ensuring the protection of taxpayer information.

Recommendation #13

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency review its policy on processing multiple-year income tax and benefit returns (return) to determine any changes it can make to allow at least the current year return to be processed for the purpose of providing benefits, while a review is conducted of previous years.

CRA’s response

The CRA does not agree with this recommendation.

When an individual files more than one return with the CRA, the returns are processed in order (by tax year) to ensure that any applicable refund or balance owing reflects all of the returns being processed and that amounts that have carryover implications, such as losses and certain credits, are applied correctly. Processing the current year return first could result in undue hardship for the taxpayer as a refund for a current year return may have to be subsequently repaid if a prior year return results in a debt to the taxpayer’s account. As a result, the CRA will not pursue this recommendation further.

The CRA will however, update training material and its "What’s new" messaging to explain the rationale for multi-year processing timelines and encourage that this explanation be shared with taxpayers and their representatives as applicable by the next tax filing season.

Recommendation #14

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) clearly communicate to Community Volunteer Income Tax Program volunteers that they are able to request from the CRA a greater number of paper copies of forms and publications than the limit noted on the CRA’s website.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

The CRA confirms that organizations participating in the CVITP can order any form or publication and do not have limits placed on the number that they can order. Confusion regarding limits to the number of forms that can be ordered stems from attempts by organizations to order forms via the online portal that is available to the general public.

The CRA will communicate this distinction to participating organizations via a communiqué to the regions, which will then be passed on to the organizations by Fall 2020.

2021 Update

CRA Response to Recommendation #14 (Recommendations fulfilled).

Organizations participating in the CVITP can order any form or publication and do not have limits placed on them. For CVITP organizations and volunteers, forms and ordering templates have been made available through regional coordinators and taxpayer service agents, who in turn provide details to organizations and volunteers with regards to ordering procedures and print limits where applicable. Orders submitted through the CVITP are not subject to the same quantity limits. Additional efforts are being made to communicate this to participating organizations.

Recommendation #15

The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman recommends the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) conduct a complete review of the training provided to Community Volunteer Income Tax Program partner organizations and volunteers, to improve the quality, flexibility, accessibility and comprehensiveness of the CRA’s training.

CRA’s response

The CRA agrees with this recommendation.

In 2019, the CRA reviewed the training material offered to volunteers and completed a learning needs analysis in collaboration with regional representatives, organizations, and volunteers to determine training gaps and develop new material. The CRA now offers enhanced web-based training on specific topics and frequently seen client scenarios.

In addition to the new training material, the CRA will refresh existing training modules and create new modules to address the following topics:

• The need for EFILE returns to be transmitted within 48 hours;
• Targeted situations such as, the handling of tax exempt income for Indigenous peoples and;
• Information on the CVITP program overall.

The CRA will continue to work collaboratively with partner organizations and volunteers to address their needs. The CRA will also explore the feasibility of reviewing in-person training provided to them.