Did you know that if you have complaints against the CRA and you think you have been wronged or treated unfairly by any of its representatives, you can turn to the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson (OTO) to look into the issue(s) you may have.
They operate independently from the CRA and their role is to oversee that the Taxpayer Bill of Rights is being respected every step of the way in the taxpayers’ dealings with the CRA.
In particular, there are eight rights in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights that the OTO upholds, as follows:
- You have the right to be treated professionally, courteously, and fairly.
- You have the right to complete, accurate, clear, and timely information.
- You have the right to lodge a service complaint and to be provided with an explanation of [the CRA’s] findings
- You have the right to have the costs of compliance taken into account when administering tax legislation.
- You have the right to expect [the CRA] to be accountable.
- You have the right to expect [the CRA] to publish [its] service standards and report annually.
- You have the right to expect [the CRA] to warn you about questionable tax schemes in a timely manner.
- You have the right to be represented by a person of your choice.
If you feel like your complaint falls under any of these rights not being respected, you can lodge a complaint through the OTO website’s online complaint system. You can file a complaint if you think you’ve been treated unfairly by the CRA, Service Canada or other government departments and agencies. They also have a toll free number you can call to speak directly to a representative about your complaint.
Typically it is recommended that prior to contacting the OTO, go through the CRA’s Service Feedback system and wait for their response, as they might address your issue. If you haven’t used the CRA’s Service Feedback system, the OTO may not look at your request until you do.
If you have an urgent or compelling case however that affects your livelihood or prevents you from operating your business, or involves a serious health issue, they may consider your complaints before being evaluated by the CRA’s Service Feedback system.
Some of the issues that can be addressed by the OTO are undue delays processing of a file, lack of access to services or information, lack of fairness in dealing with a file, error in documents, damaged or misplaced documents, issues with authorizing a representative or unacceptable behaviour towards the taxpayer.
Along with addressing taxpayer’s complaints, the OTO also examines systemic and fairness issues to find solutions and correct or prevent them. The Systemic Examination Reports prepared by them make recommendations for the CRA on how to improve its policies and procedures.
Last year, after a large number of taxpayer complaints that the CRA is taking more than four weeks to validate their eligibility for the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the OTO made a recommendation that the CRA update their CRB validation page, and to better communicate with the taxpayer the amount of time they will take to review and validate documents. This is just one example of the type of changes and
improvements the OTO may recommend as a result of their analysis of a recurring issue or complaint.
Do you feel you should you should address your case with the OTO? Talk to us, and we can recommend the right course of action for you.
Written by: Christa Lazar