After its first year in operation, the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman has identified a number of systemic issues with the Canadian tax system, and is undertaking investigations of these issues.

In the first annual report of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman, which has been tabled in Parliament, Ombudsman Paul Dubé says much of the 2008-09 fiscal year was spent building the organization and establishing operating procedures.

But the office also heard inquiries from nearly 5,000 Canadians – almost double the 2,700 inquiries that the office expected in its first year of operations. The office was established in 2008 to act as an independent, impartial officer to review taxpayers’ unresolved complaints about poor service or unfair treatment by the Canada Revenue Agency.

Dubé said the nature of taxpayers’ complaints were wide ranging, including rude behaviour from CRA employees, phone calls not getting through, and inconsistent or incorrect information from the CRA.

The Ombudsman’s office is also mandated to investigate systemic issues that may negatively affect groups of taxpayers, and to make recommendations for the correction of such problems. Dubé said that by identifying trends in individual complaints, and through consultations with tax professionals and associations throughout the year, the office has targeted several systemic issues for investigation.

He said the office has developed investigation plans and begun researching each issue, with a team assigned to focus on these issues. In a media conference on Thursday, Dubé said he expects special reports on some of the issues to be released by the summer of 2010.

He said the reports will address such issues as the timeliness and accuracy of information. “That’s something that taxpayers have a right to, under the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights. They have a right to clear, accurate and timely information,” he said. “Our systemic issues will be looking into that, and we’ll be proposing solutions, wherever feasible, on correcting just that type of problem.”

Added Dubé: “[Canadians] have high hopes that the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman will resolve issues of service and fairness, will investigate the systemic issues that affect them most.”

Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of National Revenue and Minister of State (Agriculture and Agri-Food), said he is eager to read the report. “I look forward to reviewing the report in detail and to studying Mr. Dubé’s observations about the relationships between the CRA and taxpayers,” he said in the media conference.

Also during the course of the year, the Ombudsman’s office opened more than 1,000 files and investigated more than 500 individual complaints related to CRA service. Dubé said the office has helped the CRA to improve its service delivery by bringing various administrative deficiencies to its attention.

IE