07/15/2026
Have you ever felt like filing your taxes or dealing with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) took too much time, effort, or money? At the Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson, we work to encourage the CRA to consider steps that make taxpayers' experiences as simple and straightforward as possible.
Did you know, as per Right 10, you have the right to have the costs of compliance taken into account when administering tax legislation.
The following is a fictional but plausible scenario created for educational purposes:
Ethan submitted a request to adjust a previously filed tax return using the CRA's secure online portal and uploaded all required supporting documents. Several weeks later, he received a letter requesting that he mail paper copies of the same documents that had already been submitted electronically. To comply, Ethan incurred mailing costs, spent additional time preparing and sending duplicate documents, and later had to contact the CRA several times to confirm receipt and follow up.
Feeling the process was unfair and burdensome, Ethan filed a complaint with the CRA’s Service Feedback Program (SFP), pointing out that the documents had already been submitted electronically through the CRA’s secure system. The SFP acknowledged the issue and apologized for the inconvenience but failed to explain why the electronic submission was not sufficient or to identify any measures to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.
Ethan then turned to our Office for help. After reviewing the SFP’s response and conducting an examination, we found that the CRA could have avoided the additional burden on Ethan by properly tracking the documents he had already submitted electronically. We also concluded that the CRA failed to demonstrate accountability in addressing the unnecessary duplication of effort and costs. We recommended that the CRA review the circumstances that led to the duplicate document request, provide Ethan with a clear explanation of what occurred, and determine whether changes to its procedures, employee guidance, or internal processes were needed to reduce unnecessary compliance burdens on taxpayers. The CRA accepted our recommendations and committed to reviewing its processes to help prevent similar issues in the future.
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Learn more about your rights: https://ow.ly/9WZ350ZmXn6
