Our 2006-2007 Results

Our Program Activities

Appeals (PA5)

Access to fair and impartial redress is integral to Canada’s tax system. As noted in the section on Achieving Our Tax Services Strategic Outcome, we believe we were mostly successful in maintaining an impartial and timely dispute resolution process that respects taxpayers’ fundamental right to redress in their dealings with the CRA.

We carry out our Appeals program activity to achieve the following expected result.

Our Measure: Impartiality

In 2006-2007, we continued to show positive results with respect to the transparency and consistency of our dispute resolution process. Our Quality Assurance program measures the consistency and transparency of specific appeals activities against established benchmarks. The 2006-2007 Quality Assurance program results showed that we exceeded our targets for the review of consistency measures, although our 100% benchmark for transparency was not met. Our transparency criteria requires, for example, that for income tax and commodity taxes, appeals officers make an offer to provide to taxpayers or their representatives documentation relating to the issues in dispute. The results attained for income tax and commodity taxes (99.3% and 98.8% respectively) indicate that we came very close to meeting our 100% target. Even though we did not meet our transparency target, we are confident that there was almost no impact on impartiality because of this.

We continue to maintain a high rate of resolution at the administrative review stage, which we believe is an additional reflection of our consistent and impartial treatment of taxpayers who have filed disputes. In 2006-2007, we achieved administrative resolution rates of 97% for income tax, 90% for commodity tax, and 80% for CPP/EI disputes. Ultimately, when our administrative review is not able to resolve a dispute, both the CRA and taxpayers can rely on the independence of the courts for the final decision.

Our Measure: Timeliness

Our appeals resources are focused on making an initial contact with taxpayers to advise them of the receipt of their dispute as well as informing them in a timely manner regarding the complete review of their submitted dispute. At the same time, we recognize that the need for a quality decision is critically important and must not be sacrificed for the sake of timeliness. To ensure that an appropriate balance between timeliness and quality is respected, we annually review our performance objectives for case completion.

We begin measuring our timelines when a taxpayer files a notice of dispute to an assessment, determination, or ruling.

We exceeded our service standard target in 2006-2007 for initial contact (see ).

During 2006-2007, the average processing time of our workable income tax files decreased, primarily because approximately 18,000 files relating to a resolved dispute involving pay equity were taken out of non-workable status and processed relatively quickly. The resolution of the multitude of pay equity cases had a positive effect on inventory levels. Handling of these cases on a priority basis, however, resulted in other income tax workable files not being addressed as quickly, resulting in an increase in the average age of workable inventory during the period. Meanwhile, the timeliness results for the processing of commodity tax files remained constant from the previous year and within the targeted levels (see Figure 19).

On the other hand, the average processing time for CPP/EI files increased to 203 days in 2006-2007 from 183 days in 2005-2006. It should be noted, however, that the increase is a direct result of our emphasis on closing the older files in inventory in 2006-2007. This past year saw a significant decrease in the average age and number of CPP/EI files in our inventory, attributable to these efforts as well as the decline in the intake of disputes.

Figure 19 Average Time to Resolve Disputes

All processes related to CPP/EI case management have been completed and fully implemented. The pilot project, aimed at improving procedures used in processing CPP/EI files, was successful. We expect progress in our timeliness in 2007-2008, based on the improved state of the CPP/EI inventory.

A Snapshot of Appeals (PA5)

Figure 20 Resource Spending

Description

In 2006-2007, spending for this program activity totalled $121.7 million (1,492 FTEs) or 3.6% of the CRA’s overall expenditures (Figure 20).[Footnote 1] Of this $121.7 million, $93.1 million was for net program expenditures and $28.6 million was allocated to this program activity for corporate services. Note: The results for the Voluntary Disclosures Program are reported in the Reporting Compliance (PA4) section.

Performance Report Card

Impartiality

Timeliness

Date modified:

2007-11-01