Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee to present and to answer any questions that you may have on the Canada Revenue Agency's 2016-17 supplementary estimates (B).
Mr. Chair, as you are aware, the Canada Revenue Agency is responsible for the administration of federal and certain provincial and territorial tax programs, as well as the delivery of a number of benefit payment programs. Each year, the agency collects hundred of billions of dollars of tax revenue for the governments of Canada, and distributes timely and accurate benefit payments to millions of Canadians.
Through these supplementary estimates, the Canada Revenue Agency is seeking an increase of $146.1 million in its voted authorities for the following four items.
First, the agency is requesting $65.3 million, of which $40.1 million is to implement and administer various measures aimed at cracking down on tax evasion and combatting tax avoidance as announced and funded through budget 2016. The incremental funding will be used to hire additional auditors and specialists, develop robust business intelligence infrastructure, increase verification activities, and improve the quality of investigative work that targets criminal tax evaders. The remaining $25.2 million is aimed at enhancing tax collections, as announced in budget 2016.
Second, the agency is seeking $44.3 million to implement and administer various measures to further improve its capacity to deliver client-focused services for Canadians and Canadian businesses, as announced in budget 2016. These measures include improving telephone accessibility, delivering correspondence and other communications that are clear and easy to read, increasing outreach through the expansion of the community volunteer income tax program, taking the initiative to contact Canadians who are not taking advantage of the tax credits or benefits they are entitled to, and increasing the agency’s capacity to resolve taxpayer objections in a timely manner.
These supplementary estimates also seek $30 million related to the administration of the goods and services tax recognizing the deferral of a savings proposal originally identified as part of the Budget 2012 spending review.
The final item for which the agency is seeking incremental funding is $6.4 million to implement and administer the new home accessibility tax credit for seniors and people with disabilities announced in budget 2015, as well as to augment the agency’s audit and non-audit compliance programs. These initiatives include GST and HST examinations, aggressive tax planning teams, and an extension to the RRSP over-contribution program.
Also included in these supplementary estimates for information purposes is a net reduction of $108.4 million related to the agency’s statutory authorities. Largely, this reflects a revision in the timing of disbursements to the provinces under the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006. In January, at the time the 2016-17 main estimates were prepared, the agency intended to make disbursements to the provinces of $128 million in 2016-17, once all final administration costs had been determined. This work proceeded quicker than expected, and the majority of this amount was ultimately accounted for in 2015-16, resulting in a $125.6-million reduction to the statutory authority being sought through these supplementary estimates.
This reduction is partially offset by an increase of $17.2 million in employee benefit plan amounts associated with new salary funding being sought through these supplementary estimates. Following the approval of these supplementary estimates, the agency’s revised 2016-17 authorities will total just over $4.4 billion.
In closing, the resources sought through these estimates will allow the Canada Revenue Agency to continue to deliver on its mandate to Canadians by making it easier for the vast majority of taxpayers who want to pay their taxes, and more difficult for the small minority who do not,
as well as ensuring that Canadians have ready access to the information they need about taxes or benefits.
Mr. Chair, at this time, we would be pleased to respond to any questions you may have.
Thank you.