Very few departments or agencies stir as much consternation among entrepreneurs as the Canada Revenue Agency. While some of this is to be expected given CRA’s enforcement mandate, a great deal of angst comes from fixable issues such as bad or confusing advice, poor customer service and a lack of understanding of the realities of running a small business. In the past few years, I’ve witnessed a heartening evolution in the relationship between small businesses and the CRA.
One of the big issues is in receiving timely, accurate and reliable information from the CRA. The consequences of misinformation can seriously damage a business. Imagine being advised on the phone by a CRA agent to follow a course of action, only to learn that advice was incorrect. If you think this is an issue only a few firms face, think again. A CFIB “secret shopper” study found CRA agents gave incorrect tax advice to business callers nearly 20% of the time, while CRA’s internal study found the situation was even worse, with incorrect information being shared 25% of the time.
Yet, getting bad or confusing information over the phone is no recourse when being audited. A business making a mistake, even with the telephone guidance of a CRA employee, will still be subject to penalties and interest, on top of their taxes owing.
But significant progress has been made. This past January, CFIB announced Minister of National Revenue Kerry-Lynne Findlay as the winner of the annual Golden Scissors award for the CRA’s effort to streamline how businesses remit taxes. The change means smaller businesses remit taxes less frequently, saving them valuable time and effort.
The CRA has been responsive to CFIB’s criticism, gradually implementing changes that have added much accountability to a system that desperately needed it. Some of the big wins for small businesses include:
— CRA call centre agents now provide an ID number to allow callers to know and record to whom they are speaking;
— Business taxpayers can now ask questions electronically, through their own CRA My Business Account, and an electronic answer will be provided and kept in the account;
— CRA will honour the advice it provides online through its electronic My Business Account, even if it subsequently turns out to be incorrect; and
— A Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights and a Taxpayers’ Ombudsman were introduced to promote fair treatment of taxpayers.
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