WRONG ANSWERS, BLOCKED CALLS
CANADA’S TAX AGENCY HAD POOR RECORD OF CUSTOMER SERVICE, AUDITOR FINDS
The Canada Revenue Agency blocked more than half of the calls it received from Canadian taxpayers in order to obscure the performance results of its customer services division, and also accidentally provided incorrect information to a high number of callers, according to the auditor general.
CRA call centres blocked 54 per cent of the 53.5 million calls it received from taxpayers between March 2016 and March 2017, according to Michael Ferguson, the auditor general. The agency’s call centres are responsible for taking questions from Canadian taxpayers and businesses about their taxes, credits and benefits.
“The Agency blocked calls so that it could meet its service standard for agent wait times,” the report said, noting that its mandate is to answer calls within two minutes or less 75 to 80 per cent of the time.
“By blocking and redirecting calls, the Agency was able to report that it had met its targets for telephone lines,” the report said. “However, when blocked calls are factored in, the Agency’s overall success rate was 36 per cent.”
The CRA claimed it had met its targets 90 per cent of the time.
Blocked callers — where customers received either a busy signal or an automated message asking them to visit the website or call back later — meant people typically attempted to call the CRA three or four times per week, according to the report.
“Even after several attempts, some callers did not always reach an agent or the automated selfservice
system,” the report said.
The auditor general also made 255 calls to the CRA between February and April of 2017 to determine the accuracy of information provided by agents.
Even when an agent could be reached, they responded with incorrect information almost 30 per cent of the time — “significantly higher than the Canada Revenue Agency’s own test results.”
To some specific questions, incorrect information was provided well over 50 per cent of the time. To the question, “When will the interest begin to be charged on my 2015 initial assessment?” CRA agents responded incorrectly to 84 per cent of questions.
To a question about how long taxpayers are expected to keep receipts for their rental properties, agents responded with incorrect information 66 per cent of the time.
Ferguson told a news conference that providing inaccurate information was a “very concerning” finding that could be causing problems for Canadians who file their own returns.
“We just have to assume that if people are getting wrong answers, then sometimes they are filling out the tax return based on those wrong answers.”
Ferguson couldn’t say how many people might be affected — only that some surely have been. “It’s very much reasonable to extrapolate that that is going to have an impact on people,” he said.
The backlogs come despite the agency increasing its average number of call centre agents by 23 per cent in recent years, from 2,022 in the fiscal year 2012-13 to 2,482 in fiscal year 2016-17. Over that period, the volume calls into CRA centres increased 27 per cent, according to the report.
The CRA is updating its telephone system to provide more accurate wait time estimates to callers, expected to be installed in early 2018.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said of the report, “Justin Trudeau is adding insult to injury when he hikes taxes on middle-class Canadians and then allows his tax collectors to ignore or mislead the very people being forced to pay for his $100 billion in new deficits.”
“For those looking to avoid paying their taxes, the Liberals have a good answer for them. For Canadians trying
FOR CANADIANS TRYING TO PAY THEIR TAXES, THEY PUT THEM ON HOLD.
to pay their taxes, they put them on hold.” said NDP MP Nathan Cullen.
The study comes after a Financial Post report in October found widespread delays in taxpayer-requested income tax reassessments and other forms, largely due to Ottawa’s ongoing consolidation of the agency into fewer offices. Opposition parties in recent months have latched onto some of the issues surrounding the CRA, including claims that some people have had more difficulty accessing the disability tax credit.
Some tax professionals say intensified efforts in the CRA’s auditing division has led to a higher level of income tax reassessments and objections, which has in turn increased the volume of calls into call centres.
In the 2016 budget, Ottawa increased CRA funding by roughly $1 billion, most earmarked for the auditing and collections divisions.
National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier has repeatedly said that the increased funding for the CRA has already begun to yield results, particularly by cracking down on taxdodging activities by high net-worth individuals and corporations.