From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Revenue Minister Applauded for Adding Accountability : CRA SOTW   
      
   Mary Teresa Bitti | Jan 25, 2013 10:37 AM ET   
      
   For many small business owners, red tape and the Canada Revenue Agency are   
   synonymous. Asking a tax question has often proven to be frustrating and   
   confusing, largely because there is no way of knowing if the response is   
   accurate or that it would hold up    
   in future audits or assessments. However, there have been improvements of late.   
      
   Minister of National Revenue Gail Shea made improvements this past spring to   
   the CRA’s well-used online portal, My Business Account that have gone a long   
   way toward changing those problems, by allowing small business owners to   
   communicate with the agency    
   through email. Perhaps more important, her reforms require the CRA to be   
   accountable for its responses and to deliver them in a timely manner. As the   
   fourth annual Red Tape Awareness week comes to an end, the Canadian Federation   
   of Independent Business (   
   CFIB) has awarded Minister Shea its Golden Scissors Award for her efforts to   
   cut red tape for business.   
      
   My Business Account was introduced in 2006 to give business owners the   
   flexibility and convenience of using an online portal to check basic   
   information about different tax accounts. Since then, added transactional   
   functionality has been built into the    
   portal, including the ability to file and adjust returns and rebates,   
   calculate installments, transfer payments, register a formal dispute, view   
   dates for payroll remittances, statements and account balances, among other   
   features. The service is popular,    
   with more than one million of the country’s corporate filers having a My   
   Business Account. Perhaps its biggest drawback was that it did not allow users   
   to communicate with the CRA online.   
   That changed with the minister’s My Business Account Enquiries Service, the   
   result of both the CRA’s consultations with the CFIB and its business members   
   and the federal government’s Red Tape Reduction Commission report, which   
   featured 12 recommendations    
   specific to the CRA.   
      
   “What we learned was that there were often misunderstandings either on the   
   part of the corporate filer or on the part of the CRA agent providing   
   information that often ended in a he said/she said scenario. No one had   
   anything on paper,” Ms. Shea said. “   
   In other cases, businesses would call two different people with the same tax   
   question and get two different answers. Now the business, their employees or   
   representatives can put in writing their question to CRA and CRA will respond   
   in writing, typically    
   within 10 days. CRA has also made a commitment to stand by the information   
   they provide.”   
      
   “It was certainly a challenge making inquiries to the CRA on the part of our   
   small business clients,” said Glen Gryzko business owner and a founding   
   partner in CA firm Gryzko Harper Bouw in Cochrane, Alta., a small town near   
   Calgary. “Doing anything over    
   the phone or making any changes was very, very difficult.”   
      
   Mr. Gryzko spent four years on a joint CFIB-government committee that was the   
   driving force behind efforts to mitigate the red tape required to deal with   
   the government including the creation of the My Business Account.   
      
   “I’m involved with a number of businesses and do the accounting and filing and   
   use the My Business Account for my own purposes as well as for clients. It’s a   
   very effective way to transmit returns and data to the government and file   
   returns and obtain    
   information that you are otherwise hunting around for,” he said. “With the   
   inquiries service you can now address issues in a matter of weeks as opposed   
   to months or in some cases even a year.”   
      
   And that is the point. “This initiative is part of the government’s goal to   
   make it easier for businesses to do what they do best: create jobs,” Ms. Shea   
   said.   
      
   “Small businesses are the engine that drives the Canadian economy. We want to   
   ensure the time they spend meeting their CRA obligations doesn’t detract from   
   their business. Overall we have enhanced our online service and presence,   
   which means we are using    
   clearer language making CRA services easier to access.”   
      
   While it’s early days, the feedback on My Business Account Enquiries Service   
   so far has been positive. The real test will come with this year’s tax filing   
   season.   
      
      
      
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