From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Canada Revenue Agency rapped for failing to shred mountain of hard copies: CRA   
   SOTW   
      
   Tax agency stores paper files stretching 241 kilometres and needs to act,   
   report says   
   By Dean Beeby, CBC News   
      
   Canadians are repeatedly asked to abandon paper forms and send their   
   income-tax files electronically, but it turns out the tax agency is stubbornly   
   holding on to its own mountain of paper.   
      
   A government report card on the Canada Revenue Agency's progress in disposing   
   of its warehouses of paper files gives the department a score of … zero per   
   cent.   
      
   The Canada Revenue Agency holds on to more paper than any other government   
   department, a whopping 241 kilometres' worth at last count. (VESTIDD.com)   
      
   The annual assessment by the Treasury Board says the agency did nothing in   
   2014-15 to shred its vast holdings of hard copies, even though it's required   
   to do so under federal policies.   
      
   The 34 other big departments surveyed averaged a score of 50 per cent; that   
   is, they ditched about half the records that were due for disposal that year.   
      
   The findings are spelled out in a briefing note obtained by CBC News under the   
   Access to Information Act.   
      
   Highest volume   
   The Canada Revenue Agency has the highest volume of paper records among all   
   federal departments and agencies.   
      
   The most recent inventory found that all the hard-copy tax files pressed   
   together would stretch some 241 kilometres, nearly filling a giant shelf from   
   Toronto to Kingston, Ont.   
      
   "The agency is constrained by law from disposing of records before certain   
   timeframes and conditions are met," said spokesman David Walters. "For   
   example, most individual paper tax forms are kept for five years."   
      
   Most of those records are warehoused in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa by a   
   hired records-management firm, while the CRA holds on to litigation files and   
   other records in its own offices across Canada. The agency has files on about   
   35 million Canadians    
   and businesses.   
      
   'Millions of Canadians continue to file on paper.' - Canada Revenue Agency   
   spokesman    
      
   More than 80 per cent of individuals now file their income taxes online, but   
   many others prefer paper forms.   
      
   "As millions of Canadians continue to file on paper, the CRA has a   
   responsibility to properly manage these records through their lifecycle,   
   resulting in higher volumes of paper records," says Walters.   
      
   "Records must also be retained in order to support audit activities, some of   
   which can last for years, or to allow reassessments requested by taxpayers,   
   which can be made several years after a particular tax year."   
      
   The agency's score on the planned disposition of electronic files, though, is   
   just as bad as for its paper versions.   
      
   Zero progress   
   The briefing note says the Treasury Board gave CRA another zero per cent for   
   its progress in wiping out electronic records that are no longer needed,   
   compared with an average score of 14 per cent for the 34 other departments.   
      
   Walters says the report card failed to include the agency's recent success in   
   eliminating more than 30,400 internal and external web pages that were   
   duplicates or outdated. In addition, as part of a government-wide email   
   modernization project, the agency    
   has wiped out some 13 terabytes of email storage since 2014.   
      
   An internal report says that in addition to holding on to too much paper, the   
   Canada Revenue Agency is also failing to wipe out its growing store of   
   electronic files. (Canada Revenue Agency)   
      
   Under federal rules, departments are permitted to eliminate records deemed to   
   be "transitory," defined as records "required only for a limited time to   
   ensure the completion of a routine action or the preparation of a subsequent   
   record."    
      
   Walters says the agency has several information-management projects this year   
   that will improve its paper-disposal scores, and electronic file-handling   
   scores, for the next report card.   
      
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