Principal Issues: Can the CRA provide an update on administrative initiatives of interest?
Position: Three changes will be highlighted with general comments (1) Mickey Sarazin as the new DG, (2) the new Folios project, (3) introduction of the email service
Reasons: General comments provided
STEP CRA Roundtable – June 2012
QUESTION 16
Can the CRA provide an update on recent administrative changes within the Income Tax Rulings Directorate that may be of interest to this audience?
CRA Response
We will address three changes within the Income Tax Rulings Directorate that may be of interest: (1) the announcement of the Directorate’s new Director General, (2) an update on the Folio project initiative; and (3) an overview of the email service.
(1) Our new Director General
The Income Tax Rulings Directorate recently welcomed back Mr. Mickey Sarazin in the role as Director General of the Rulings Directorate.
Mr. Sarazin plans to work with all staff and managers within the Directorate to find improvements in our business processes to maximize our limited resources to better meet clients’ needs. For example, he will have the Directorate focus on ensuring that other areas of the CRA are familiar with the positions taken by the Directorate. To improve the timeliness of the Directorate’s responses, in the future, the Directorate will refrain from opening files until a submission includes full disclosure of all research relevant to the question being asked.
(2) The Folios project
The Folio project, an initiative undertaken by the Directorate in 2009 to better communicate technical information to taxpayers, continues to develop.
At the TEI conference in December of last year, we acknowledged that being able to consult an authoritative source of technical tax information and the CRA's interpretation of the legislation it administers is of unquestionable benefit to taxpayers, their advisors and CRA staff. To that end, the Directorate has undertaken to review the content and improve the format of the income tax technical publications product. Each updated technical income tax publication will be known as an "Income Tax Folio" and will be entirely electronic based.
To date, officials from numerous areas within the CRA as well as members of tax professionals' organizations in the private sector have been consulted. All of this feedback and data has allowed us to identify and prioritize the current IT Bulletins that need to be reviewed and updated first. The Directorate is committed to the Folios project but given its magnitude, the process is expected to take a number of years. As such, we have encouraged external stakeholder associations to contact us should there be an interest in creating Folios related to areas of interest to their members.
(3) Email service
The Income Tax Rulings Directorate now offers an email service to better handle general tax inquiries that used to be addressed by the Directorate by telephone. Please forward these inquiries to itrulingsdirectorate@cra-arc.gc.ca.
This service is not intended to replace technical interpretation letters issued on various provisions of the Income Tax Act – but rather to provide a vehicle to efficiently address general questions of interpretation or to provide responses to issues which the Directorate has previously addressed. Where possible, we will provide an email response to the sender within five business days. However, where the question is complex and requires a more in-depth review by an officer, the request will be treated as a request for a technical interpretation.
Kim Duval
2012-044757