Yes, absolutely. Actually, one of the statistics used by one of my colleagues who came to this committee previously—and I'll use the same statistic—is the cost of processing an electronic return versus a paper return.
When an electronic return is filed, it goes directly into our system. All of the checks and balances are there, and all of the security protocols are in place, but it doesn't require a manual intervention on the data entry point. When a paper return comes in, it has to go through the mail system. It has to go through our various mailrooms. It has to be opened, sorted, the paper and cheque separated—all of the elements.
When we did a rough costing of the direct costs associated with doing a paper return versus an electronic return, a paper return came out at about $3.50 to process. For an electronic return, it's about 80¢. That's an increase of about 75% in the cost of processing that return, which is a significant saving for the agency. All the way through, as the rate of our drive to electronic goes up, our costs go down, and we're able to focus on other things, such as enforcement.