CRA’s 100-day plan results are not the presents Canadians want or need

Kim Moody: Improved taxpayer service isn’t about putting out short-term fixes or building shiny dashboards to track superficial and underwhelming targetsYou can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.I was chatting with a friend last week who asked me, “Why do you dislike the Canada Revenue Agency so much?”Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.I was a bit shocked since I really don’t. I quite admire and respect the important job the CRA has to do — administering Canada’s complex tax laws is very difficult — its people and its leadership. I’ve tried to make that clear in all my writings, but also in my day-to-day interactions with them.Over the years, however, I have not been shy to point out where the CRA needs to improve and that’s likely the cause of my friend’s misunderstanding.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againInterested in more newsletters? Browse here.The CRA has had massive budget increases in recent years, so one would logically think Canadians have received improved service. Nope. Instead, we have a bloated CRA with a call centre that is virtually unapproachable, we have new CRA agents who are very poorly trained and many agents often work from home with obvious unprofessional distractions.Some may not have any issues with CRA employees working from home, but I do. Working from home is not a matter of the modern workplace or getting with the times. Instead, working with colleagues in a face-to-face environment is simply the best way for people to learn, collaborate on difficult issues, ensure proper training/supervision and provide the right environment for overall good outcomes.It is now routine for taxpayer audits to be horribly conducted with resulting proposed reassessments that are laughable. Unfortunately, this puts taxpayers in a position where they are forced to object to the reassessments. Earlier this month, we found out taxpayer objections have spiked. This puts a further strain on the CRA and, of course, taxpayer resources.But back to the call centres. On Sept. 2, Finance Minister François Champagne announced on his X account that he was asking the CRA to come up with a 100-day plan to improve its call centre performance and other services. At the time, I was refreshed by the blunt assessment that the CRA needed to improve, but I was obviously skeptical that the 100-day plan would be nothing more than a political exercise.Canadians deserve reliable service, and the current difficulties at Canada Revenue Agency call centres are unacceptable. I’ve therefore directed the Agency to implement a 100-day action plan.Here’s my letter to the FINA Committee: pic.twitter.com/btE0rhe9ADThe CRA created a 100-day plan website where it tracked the progress that it was apparently making and there were some improvements, but it was obvious the agency was more concerned about treating the symptoms rather than tackling the long-standing and systemic issues that led to the symptoms.As a result, I predicted that when the 100th day arrived — Dec. 11 — there would be a lot of self-congratulations by the CRA and Champagne for their “successful treatment of the symptoms.” But I was hopeful that wouldn’t be the case and that a longer-term plan would be presented to tackle the root causes of poor taxpayer service.Fast forward to late October and the auditor general released a scathing report on the CRA’s call centre performance and other standards. We now know why Champagne called for a 100-day plan in the first place: he and the CRA had obviously been provided an advance copy of the report and were trying to get ahead of the damage. Yep, politics was indeed driving the bus as suspected.From that point forward, I was confident my prediction of self-congratulatory slaps on the back would be the result on Dec. 11.But on the evening of Dec. 10, I was nevertheless tingling with excitement. I finally went to bed, but it brought back memories of my childhood on Christmas Eve when I was so excited since Santa would be coming soon. That’s how I felt when I put my head on the pillow. Santa was hopefully bringing a much-improved CRA call centre and services.The next morning, I jumped out of bed and grabbed my iPhone, an old rotary phone and my iPad. My excitement was over the top. I tried calling the CRA with my iPhone to see if I noticed any improvements and whether I could get through easier than before. No real change was found. I then picked up my old rotary phone, but had no success there either. My excitement was starting to diminish.I then went to my iPad and saw a CRA press release about the results of the 100-day plan staring me in the face. After reading it, I was significantly disappointed. I don’t think I was ever disappointed during my childhood on Christmas morning when Santa arrived, even if the presents were modest. I was grateful and always thankful.The CRA press release, however, was exactly as I had predicted: self-congratulatory pats on the back for all the “progress” it had made in treating the symptoms, with only a passing acknowledgment that the root causes will be looked at.Given this, the CRA’s 100-day plan became yet another case study in bureaucratic and political self-congratulation. Canadians deserve better. Improved taxpayer service isn’t about putting out short-term fixes or building shiny dashboards to track superficial and underwhelming targets, such as answering only 70 per cent of taxpayer calls.It’s about fixing the structural rot: poorly trained agents, inaccessible systems, broken audit functions and a call centre model that’s essentially unapproachable.So, how did I answer my friend who asked why I disliked the CRA so much? I said that, if anything, I likely care too much. I want the CRA to be better because the stakes are high, the gaps are widening and Canadian taxpayers — the lifeblood of this country — deserve far more respect than they’re getting.Santa delivers quietly, efficiently and constantly improves his processes and systems with his elves without self-congratulatory press releases. Champagne and the CRA could learn a thing or two.Kim Moody, FCPA, FCA, TEP, is the founder of Moodys Tax/Moodys Private Client, a former chair of the Canadian Tax Foundation, former chair of the Society of Estate Practitioners (Canada) and has held many other leadership positions in the Canadian tax community. He can be reached at kgcm@kimgcmoody.com and his LinkedIn profile is https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimgcmoody._____________________________________________________________If you like this story, sign up for the FP Investor Newsletter._____________________________________________________________Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.