Mr. Speaker, the figure included in the question, excerpted from Hansard, refers to the following: Over the past two fiscal years, April 1, 2015 through March 31, 2017, the CRA identified $25 billion in fiscal impact. More specifically, the CRA’s fiscal impact from audit activities was $12.7 billion in 2015-16 and was $12.5 billion in 2016-17.
Fiscal impact is the traditional measure used for the CRA’s departmental performance report to report on the audit assessment and examination results from compliance activities.
Fiscal impact consists of federal and provincial taxes assessed, tax refunds reduced, interest and penalties, and the present value of future federal tax assessable arising from compliance actions. It excludes the impact of appeals reversals and uncollectable amounts.
With regard to parts (a) (i) to (iv) and (b), given the above-noted context, the CRA is unable to respond as it does not track such information in the manner requested.
With regard to part (c), fiscal impact of audit activities is noted in the Public Accounts of Canada. Amounts assessed by the CRA are reflected in the Public Accounts of Canada, and include assessments generated by audit activities.
The CRA cannot provide the information in the manner requested, as a taxpayer’s CRA account includes outstanding debts and refund offsets from several different CRA programs and revenue lines. The CRA system reflects the on-going outstanding balance and does not link the balances or payments to any specific debt, such as from audit assessment.