canada revenue agency gst contact number

Half owed by individualsĬlose to half of the unpaid tax debt is owed by individual Canadians. 'The number of unassigned accounts increased YOY (July) by approximately 23%' - or about 350,000 unassigned accounts.ĬBC News obtained the update through the Access to Information Act. 'During the first four months of the 2017/18, intake has been higher than our capacity to assign accounts to officers,' said an October 2017 update on 'Managing the Tax Debt.' Indeed, the agency says its success in rooting out some underground activity and tax-avoidance has contributed in part to the growth in the tax debt.īut an internal document suggests the CRA still lacks the staff to keep up with the growth in the uncollected tax amount. October 2017 internal CRA document indicating a lack of staff to collect tax debts Intake has been higher than our capacity to assign accounts to officers. It is also separate from the unknown amount of tax evaded through the use of offshore tax havens and other tax dodges - something which other CRA programs are pursuing. Tax debt is also distinct from undeclared taxes owed in the underground economy, which Statistics Canada says hid some $45.6 billion in economic activity in 2013.

Unlike the fast-rising tax debt, that 'disputed' tax sum has stabilized at about $14 billion over the last three years. 'Tax debt' refers to undisputed amounts of income tax, GST and other taxes owed by Canadians – as well as penalties and interest – but does not include taxes due that Canadians have challenged and not paid. The agency currently does not collect about $8.40 for every $100 in taxes that are due. The 2016 Liberal budget gave the CRA $351.6 million over five years 'to improve its ability to collect outstanding tax debts.'Īnd the agency says it's on track to meet its target of collecting $7.4 billion in additional tax debt over those five years.īut that effort hasn't stopped the total from growing - by 5.6 per cent in 2017-2018 alone, far faster than inflation or the economy itself. The rise in the tax debt level over the last decade or so appears to be linked to major staff reductions at CRA under the former Conservative government's deficit-cutting program. A $351 million tax-collection program started in 2016 under National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier has not stopped increases in the amount of uncollected taxes.

Canada revenue agency gst contact number