service standards

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service standards

about our service standards

Canadians' confidence in the integrity of the tax system is essential to the CRA's success. Meeting our service standards shows that we are responsive to the needs of taxpayers and benefit recipients. Our service standards tell citizens what level of performance they can reasonably expect from the CRA under normal circumstances. We review our standards and targets every year and update them as needed.

new service standard Web pages

Over the last year, the CRA posted Web pages that will help taxpayers to find and understand our service standards. In the coming year, we will add links to more information for each service standard, such as mailing address and telephone, teletypewriter, and fax numbers.

The CRA's senior management continues to oversee the development of the CRA's service standards. The Agency Management Committee reviews all new, revised, and retired service standards to make sure that impacts are considered across the CRA.

new service standards

In 2012-2013, we will be introducing three new standards: GST/HST credit enquiries telephone service level, two-day acknowledgements of service complaints, and 30–day resolution of service complaints.

This year, we are linking each service standard in the following table to its new summary page on the CRA's external Web site. We are also reporting on the standards that have not met targets at the end of this section.

our service standard results

Service
Standard
Target
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
Rating
Assisting taxpayers
Respond to calls in agent queue within two minutes
80%
89.9%
84.4%
84.2%
Met
Respond to simple applications for charitable registration within two months, upon receipt of a complete application
80%
81.9%
87.5%
85.9%
Met
Respond to regular applications for charitable registration within six months, upon receipt of a complete application
80%
79.8%
95.5%
91.3%
Met
Issue advance income tax rulings to taxpayers within an average of 60 calendar days of receipt of all essential information
100%
98 days
102 days
106 days
Not met
Issue technical interpretations to taxpayers within an average of 90 calendar days of receipt of a request
100%
89 days
87 days
90 days
Met
Respond to calls in the queue within two minutes
80%
N/A
86%
88.0%
Met
Respond to written requests for GST/HST rulings and interpretations within 45 business days of receipt in the CRA. This excludes highly technical and precedent and/or policy-setting rulings and interpretations
80%
94.1%
46.5%
41.9%
Not met
Complete a full review and provide a response on applications to register pension plans within 180 calendar days
85%
86.5%
94.4%
83.9%
Mostly met Footnote 1
Review pension plan amendments for compliance with the Income Tax Act within nine months
80%
67.2%
77.1%
78.7%
Mostly met1
Respond to applications to register, amend, or terminate retirement savings plans within 60 calendar days
80%
80.1%
86.3%
94.4%
Met
Respond to applications to register, amend, or terminate retirement income funds within 60 calendar days
80%
92.6%
94%
96.2%
Met
Respond to applications to approve, amend, and terminate education savings plans specimen plans within 60 calendar days
85%
95%
92.1%
97.5%
Met
Review actuarial valuation reports within nine months and provide written approval of the recommended employer contributions
80%
58.9%
63.4%
50.7%
Not met
Respond to written enquiries within 60 calendar days
80%
71.4%
85.9%
88.3%
Met
Review applications to register new deferred profit sharing plans within 180 days
80%
99.4%
100%
98.1%
Met
Review requests to amend and to terminate plans within 270 days
80%
52.1%
81.4%
93.7%
Met
Respond to calls in the agent queue within two minutes
80%
81%
82%
80.1%
Met
Respond to calls in the agent queue within two minutes
80%
86%
84%
81.2%
Met
Complete the adjustment and mail a Notice of Reassessment within an average of eight weeks, provided all requisite information has been received from the taxpayer
100%
7 weeks
7.2 weeks
7 weeks
Met
Complete the adjustment and mail a Notice of Reassessment within an average of two weeks, provided all requisite information has been received from the taxpayer
100%
2 weeks
1.8 weeks
1.8 weeks
Met
Processing T1 individual income tax returns (paper)
Process a paper T1 return and mail a Notice of Assessment and refund, if applicable, in an average of four to six weeks
100%
4.3 weeks
3.9 weeks
3.9 weeks
Met
Processing T1 individual income tax returns (EFILE, TELEFILE, NETFILE)
Process electronic T1 returns (EFILE, TELEFILE, and NETFILE) within an average of two weeks of receipt
100%
1.6 weeks
1.7 weeks
1.6 weeks
Met
Processing T3 trust returns
Process T3 trust returns within four months
95%
97.6%
98.5%
98.7%
Met
Assess excise tax, excise duty, softwood lumber returns, and air travellers security charge returns within 90 days of receipt
95%
97%
97.6%
98.2%
Met
Processing GST/HST returns
Process GST/HST returns within 30 calendar days of receipt
95%
n/a
90.3%
91.0%
Mostly met1
Assess T2 returns (corporation income tax) within 60 days
90%
92.8%
94.5%
95.2%
Met
Addressing non-compliance
Claims – SR&ED tax incentives – refundable claims
Process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) in Canada within 120 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim for refundable claims
90%
96.3%
96.5%
96.5%
Met
Claims – SR&ED tax incentives – non-refundable claims
Process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) in Canada within 365 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim for non‑refundable claims
90%
96%
96.7%
96.7%
Met
Claims – SR&ED tax incentives – claimant-requested adjustments to refundable claims
Process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) in Canada within 240 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim, for refundable claims related to adjustments requested to previously filed income tax returns
90%
97.3%
96.8%
95.1%
Met
Claims – SR&ED tax incentives – claimant-requested adjustments to non-refundable claims
Process claims for tax incentives from businesses that conduct scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) in Canada within 365 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim for non‑refundable claims related to adjustments requested to previously filed income tax returns
90%
95.4%
94.9%
94.5%
Met
Review T2 corporation income tax returns that include claims for the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit, the BC Film and Television Tax credit, the BC Production Services Tax Credit, the Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit, the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit within 60 calendar days from the date of receipt where no audit action is undertaken
90%
92.9%
94.8%
95.9%
Met
Review T2 corporation income tax returns that include claims for the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit, the BC Film and Television Tax credit, the BC Production Services Tax Credit, the Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit, the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit within 120 calendar days from the date of receipt where audit action is undertaken
90%
91.9%
91.2%
79.0%
Not met
If you disagree
Acknowledge taxpayer disputes within 30 calendar days after we receive them
85%
50%
50.5%
54.7%
Not met
Acknowledge receipt of a problem within two business days
95%
97.1%
95.3%
97.6%
Met
Resolve the problem within 15 business days. If we cannot (for example, if a case is complex), we will make contact within that time to indicate an anticipated date of resolution
95%
96.6%
95.3%
97.5%
Met
Delivering benefits
Respond to calls in the agent queue within two minutes
75%
75%
76%
76.0%
Met
Issue a payment, notice, or explanation within 80 calendar days
98%
98.8%
98.7%
99.0%
Met
Accurately process the appropriate payment and notice and, if necessary, issue a letter requesting additional information
98%
97.4%
99.1%
98.0%
Met
Respond to written enquiries and telephone referrals from call centers within 80 calendar days
98%
93%
94.9%
98.1%
Met
Respond to written enquiries and telephone referrals from call centers, with correct information, and accurately process new recipient information, including issuing a payment, notice, or letter
98%
99.3%
98.6%
98.8%
Met
Inform you of the result of our review within 45 days after we receive the information requested
90%
94.2%
96.4%
98.5%
Met
Process your request to authorize or cancel a representative received during peak tax time (mid-March to mid-July) within 20 business days of receipt by the CRA
90%
93.8%
87.1%
90.0%
Met
Accurately process your request to authorize or cancel a representative; if necessary, we will send you a letter requesting additional information
98%
99%
99.4%
99.7%
Met
Process your request to authorize or cancel a representative received during non-peak tax time, (mid-July to mid-March) within five business days of receipt by the CRA
90%
63%
78.2%
88.0%
Mostly met1
Accurately process your request to authorize or cancel a representative; if necessary, we will send you a letter requesting additional information
98%
99%
99%
99.2%
Met
Our corporate foundation
Respond to taxpayer requests for statistical data within an average of 30 calendar days.
100%
22 days
14 days
17 days
Met
Prior-year results can be found at www.cra-arc.gc.ca/gncy/nnnl/menu-eng.html
Where service standards are expressed in numbers of days, they refer to calendar days, unless otherwise specified.
Results for prior years have been revised based on updated information.
Footnote 1: At least 95% of target met.

challenges and exceptions

advance income tax rulings to taxpayers

figure 5 Advance income tax rulings to taxpayers

Standard: Issue advance income tax rulings to taxpayers within an average of 60 calendar days of receipt of all essential information

Target: 100%

2011-2012 Result: 106 days

In light of the increasing complexity of the advance income tax rulings files, we will revise our service standard from completing 100% of files within an average of 60 calendar days to completing 85% of files within 90 business days. We expect to meet the revised 85% target by the end of the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

actuarial valuation reports

figure 6 Actuarial valuation reports

Standard: Review actuarial valuation reports within nine months and provide written approval of the recommended employer contributions

Target: 80%

2011-2012 Result: 50.7%

This is a timeliness service standard for reviewing and responding to actuarial valuation reports. For an employer's contributions to a registered defined benefit pension plan to be tax deductible, an actuary must state that the contributions are necessary to pay for the future pension benefits for the employees, and the contributions must be approved by the CRA.

We found significant non-compliance in the actuarial evaluation reports for certain categories of registered pension plans. Resolving this non-compliance increases the average time to complete a submission. Risk-management strategies are now in place to reduce the average time it takes to complete submissions.

GST/HST rulings and interpretations – written enquiries

figure 7 GST/HST rulings and interpretations – written enquiries

Standard: Respond to written requests for GST/HST rulings and interpretations within 45 business days of receipt in the CRA. This excludes highly technical and precedent and/or policy-setting rulings and interpretations

Target: 80%

2011-2012 Result: 41.9%

We did not meet our target of responding within 45 business days for written requests for GST/HST rulings and interpretations. The volume of requests was higher in the last two years than previously due to the introduction of HST in Ontario and British Columbia We expect to improve our response time now that the volume of requests has begun to reduce to normal levels.

first contact letter for disputes

figure 8 First contact letter for disputes

Standard: Acknowledge taxpayer disputes within 30 calendar days after we receive them

Target: 85%

2011-2012 Result: 54.7%

The service standard is for the CRA to mail an acknowledgement letter to the taxpayer using the redress service within 30 days 85% of the time. In 2011-2012, we met the standard only 54.7% of the time. We are now considering the feasibility of this standard, given the fact that we have had difficulty meeting the target over the last few years.

claims – video and film tax credits – refundable claims – audited

figure 9 Claims – video and film tax credits – refundable claims – audited

Standard: Review T2 corporation income tax returns that include claims for the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit, the BC Film and Television Tax credit, the BC Production Services Tax Credit, the Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit, the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and the Ontario Production Services Tax Credit within 120 calendar days from the date of receipt where audit action is undertaken

Target: 90%

2011-2012 Result: 78.9%

We did not meet our target this year. We expect that clarifying and communicating the file completion date will enable us to meet the target next year.

Date modified:
2012-11-08