Description
The Government of Canada will undertake public consultations and engagement to support improved access to high-value, statistical tax data and publications, increased fairness of the rules governing charities’ political activities, and better understanding of factors affecting the low rates of benefit uptake.
- Lead department:
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Canada Revenue Agency
- Email address for enquiries:
- Other involved actors:
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n/a
- Overall status:
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All deliverables complete.
Planned result
You’ll be more satisfied with publicly available statistical tax publications and related data. Charities will have clear rules regarding political activities. Public Opinion Research will help the CRA better understand barriers to tax-filing and access to tax credits and benefits by Indigenous Canadians and vulnerable populations.
Key indicator
| Indicator | Target | Latest actual data (and data collection date) |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of users finding statistical tax data and publications useful. | Met target for qualitative assessment of usefulness
>30 responses Not met target for quantitative assessment |
An ongoing online visitor survey shows 69% of respondents rate the tax data as “useful” or “very useful” – results as of April 2018 |
| Number of people from Indigenous communities and vulnerable populations (e.g., seniors, newcomers to Canada, and urban Indigenous Peoples) that have been engaged in focus groups to better understand challenges in tax filing, with emphasis on qualifying for benefits to which people are entitled. | 200 by May 2017 |
300 (October 2017) Indigenous Communities Research - February through May 2017: exact count unavailable, approximately 150 Vulnerable Populations Research - February through March 2017: 150 |
Status
Status of Open Government Plan milestones (complete, substantial, limited, not started)
Complete:
- 22.1 Complete an online consultation with Canadians to measure public satisfaction with, and interest in, statistical tax publications and related data.
- Survey on how to improve access to high-value, statistical tax data and publications posted online in August 2016. A new user friendly format has been developed along with the introduction of a pop-up window inviting users to participate in the survey. The survey and pop-up has been made compatible with the Canada.ca site following the transfer of CRA web pages in summer 2017. The survey will be ongoing for CRA purposes to continue to track user satisfaction and provide guidance for future enhancements.
- Feedback from the consultation will be considered in the CRA’s plans to improve the relevance and accessibility of statistical tax publications
- 22.2 Engage with registered charities, the public, and other stakeholders in the charitable sector to help clarify rules governing charities’ political activities:
- 22.2.1 Conduct online and in-person consultations sessions on what information is needed, what form any future rules should take, and how best to communicate them to stakeholders and the general public.
- Online and in-person consultations of the rules governing charities’ political activities completed in December 2016. Over the consultation period, the CRA received almost 20,000 written submissions from charities and individuals, and met with 167 representatives from the charitable sector. A Consultation Panel reviewed the feedback and presented a report to the Minister of National Revenue in March 2017. The government is reviewing the Panel’s report to help inform its regulation of charities.
- 22.2.1 Conduct online and in-person consultations sessions on what information is needed, what form any future rules should take, and how best to communicate them to stakeholders and the general public.
- 22.3 Engage with indigenous Canadians to better understand the issues, root causes, and data gaps that may be preventing eligible individuals from accessing benefits.
- Public opinion research with Indigenous communities and vulnerable populations (including urban Indigenous Canadians) was conducted in spring 2017, to better understand the factors that may prevent eligible individuals from accessing benefits. The CRA is leveraging the results of these studies to inform more targeted initiatives to improve Indigenous peoples’ participation in the tax and benefit system. The CRA continues to work with its federal partners to identify opportunities to increase Indigenous peoples’ awareness of and access to benefits and credits.
Other completed milestones:
- In December 2016, the CRA completed the ‘Serving You Better’ consultations with small and medium businesses and accountants to make the Agency’s programs and services more helpful and easier to use. More than 1500 comments and suggestions were received. In response, the CRA published areport in June 2017 that outlines clear deliverables to improve services for small and medium businesses through to 2019.
Challenges
- n/a