Canada Revenue Agency
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Departments of the Government of Canada |
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|---|---|
| Canada Revenue Agency | |
| Minister | Jean-Pierre Blackburn |
| Responsibilities | Tax collection
Administration of tax law |
| Employees | ..... |
| Department Website | |
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) (formerly Revenue Canada under the Federal Identity Program) is a federal agency that administers tax laws for the Government of Canada and for most provinces and territories, international trade legislation, and various social and economic benefit and incentive programs delivered through the tax system. It also oversees the registration of charities in Canada, and tax credit programmes such as the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Credit Program.
The Canada Revenue Agency was previously known as the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) until a federal government reorganization in December 2003 when it was decided to split the organization's customs and revenue responsibilities into separate organizations. Since then, Canada Border Services Agency is part of the Public Safety Canada portfolio to handle customs responsibilities.
The CCRA was short-lived, having been created in a November 1999 reorganization of the federal government where it had been known for many years under its statutory name the Department of National Revenue. It was also referred to as Revenue Canada under the Federal Identity Program of the Treasury Board of Canada. To this day, most Canadians have continued to refer to the agency as "Revenue Canada" through its CCRA and CRA official designation periods.
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[edit] Administration of Taxation Laws
The CRA administers most individual and corporate income taxes in Canada. With the exception of Quebec provincial individual income tax, the CRA Administers all personal and trust tax returns. CRA also administers all corporate income taxes in Canada, except for Quebec and Alberta provincial corporate income taxes. The Ontario Ministry of Finance also partially administers the provincial corporate income tax for tax years ended prior to January 1, 2009, however administrative functions are being increasingly transfered to CRA. [1].
The CRA administers the GST (the Canadian Federal Value Added Tax) in all provinces except Quebec, where Revenu Quebec administers both the QST and GST, and the Maritime Provinces, where the GST is replaced with a Harmonized Sales Tax which is administered by CRA. It has recently been announced that a proposal for the Ontario Retail Sales Tax will be harmonized with the GST. Although not explicitly announced, it is likely this harmonized tax will be administered by CRA.[2].
[edit] Criticism
The Canada Revenue Agency is inconsistent in regard to breaks for delinquent tax payers, so much that taxpayers will go "shopping" around to other tax offices for the best deal[3].
The Canada Revenue Agency is also inconsistent when compensating tax payers for mistakes. A recent case being Irvin Leroux who lost $4.5 million in assets due to a Canada Revenue Agency mistake.[4].
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ "Single Administration of Ontario Corporate Tax". Canada Revenue Agency. 2009-03-20. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whtsnw/tms/ctao-eng.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-05.
- ^ "Single Sales Tax". Government of Ontario. 2009-06-03. http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/notices/sst/01.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-05.
- ^ "Tax breaks for Canadians inconsistent: poll". CTV News. 2009-01-17. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090117/canada_revenue_090117/20090117?hub=Canada. Retrieved on 2009-01-18.
- ^ "Revenue Canada refuses to pay for million-dollar mistake: poll". CBC News. 2009-04-23. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/04/22/bc-taxmistake.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-12.
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