Message from J. Paul Dubé, Taxpayers' Ombudsman

Welcome to our Web site.

The Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman has been in operation for two years now. We are still busy building the organization, hiring the people we need, and reviewing protocols for interacting with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in the most effective and efficient ways possible. There are new people in key leadership roles within the CRA and our organizations are getting to know each other better. But most importantly, and despite being a relatively new organization, I am proud to say that we are making a difference in the lives of many taxpayers by helping resolve their disputes with the CRA.

Outreach has been, and will continue to be, a priority for me. Indeed, a prime focus of my mandate is to raise awareness of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights and the role of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman. Our tour across the country has helped us get the message out that Canadians have rights as taxpayers and they also have an independent and impartial Ombudsman to review unresolved complaints about the way they are served and treated by the CRA. As Taxpayers’ Ombudsman, I am committed to my role of promoting professional service and fair treatment by the CRA, in accordance with the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

It is always gratifying when our intervention in a dispute between a taxpayer and the CRA leads to a resolution of the problem. However, many complaints about service are due less to a one-time error or misjudgment, and more to an underlying issue that will cause the problem to recur if not corrected. If we only resolved individual complaints in isolation, without looking at the policies and procedures that gave rise to them, we would miss the opportunity to identify systemic and emerging issues related to service matters that impact negatively on taxpayers.

Consultations with stakeholders such as tax professionals have given us further insight into some of these systemic issues. Recently, we began asking stakeholders to make submissions for consideration in our systemic reviews. We are asking tax professionals and other stakeholders to educate not only their clients and the public at large, but to educate their Taxpayers’ Ombudsman too. I am encouraged that so many people have already heeded this call by sharing their experiences via our Web site.

Through our intervention in individual complaints and the investigation of systemic issues, my Office will provide valuable feedback that will help the CRA maintain its high levels of service and make improvements whenever necessary.

J. Paul Dubé

[Archives]