Principal Issues: Update on the CRA’s dedicated phone line for income tax service providers.
Position: The CRA’s Income Tax Rulings Directorate formally launched the new dedicated telephone service (DTS) pilot project in July of 2017. At first, the DTS serviced eligible CPAs in Ontario and Quebec. Expansion of the service followed quickly. The DTS was initially expanded in July of 2017 to include eligible CPAs in Manitoba and New Brunswick. The service was further expanded in March of 2018 to include non-CPAs in the four provinces we service. Feedback received from active registrants has been very encouraging.
Reasons: As a pilot project, the DTS has been expanding in order to service its targeted population and satisfy the program’s goals.
2018 STEP CRA Roundtable –May 29, 2018
QUESTION 1. Update on the Dedicated Telephone Service
The Income Tax Rulings Directorate formally launched a new dedicated telephone service (DTS) for income tax service providers in July of 2017. The DTS is a three-year pilot project which was initially offered to eligible Chartered Professional Accountants (CPAs) in Ontario and Quebec. The goal of the DTS is to assist professionals in the business of preparing income tax returns by providing them with access to experienced CRA staff who can help with more complex technical issues.
Can the CRA provide an update on this pilot project?
CRA Response
Background:
In Budget 2016, Finance announced that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) would pilot a new dedicated telephone support line for income tax service providers. After putting the necessary infrastructure into place, the Income Tax Rulings Directorate formally launched the Dedicated Telephone Service (DTS) pilot project in July of 2017.
At the outset, the DTS was initially offered to eligible CPAs in Ontario and Quebec in the business of preparing income tax returns for clients and practicing as sole practitioners or in groups of up to three professional partners/shareholders.
The goal of the DTS is to give income tax service providers greater access to the information they need to solve their complex tax issues.
Update:
Shortly after launch in July of 2017, the DTS pilot expanded to include eligible CPAs in Manitoba and New Brunswick. To increase the awareness of the service within the CPA community, in August of 2017, the DTS officers began reaching out to eligible CPAs in Ontario and Quebec who had not yet registered for the service.
Most recently, the DTS was further expanded to include eligible non-CPAs in the same four provinces currently being serviced. This expansion began in March of 2018 to ensure that more income tax service providers had access to the DTS during the busy individual tax filing season.
Feedback received on the DTS since its launch has been very encouraging. In the fall of 2017 the DTS launched a phone survey that registrants are invited to complete after using the service. The results from this survey have been very positive, with an overwhelming majority of the respondents strongly agreeing that they were satisfied with the service received. The DTS has also been receiving additional unsolicited feedback from registrants expressing their gratitude for the service.
The DTS team is looking forward to evaluating the first year of the new service and will be looking for ways to build on its achievements for the coming year. If the pilot is successful, the DTS may expand nationwide and to more income tax service providers on a permanent basis.
Aleksandra Bogdan
2018-074438