Thank you.
As a chartered professional accountant in public practice, I've personally filed thousands of tax returns over the last 26 years. I'm not sure who really wants to answer some of my questions, but I'll probably start with Mr. Daley.
Our tax system is fundamentally based on volunteer self-reporting. Canadians are expected to file accurately with the information. If they don't, even if it's small mistakes, they are faced with penalties and interest. They can dispute with CRA for a long period of time. If they didn't have the correct information based on what CRA put out there and they still have these problems, who actually pays penalties? Who's responsible for the penalties? Maybe that's a rhetorical question: It's the taxpayer.
When we look at this, from your perspective.... You alluded to it earlier in your opening statement, Mr. Daley, that the CRA is the main function for Finance to collect funds. Would you say that the main purpose of CRA is to be a collection agency, or is it to help taxpayers file their information correctly with proper information? Is CRA supposed to be educational and help the taxpayer, or is it really just to collect funds?