References: - Canada Revenue Agency -- [ LINK ] -- established and operating under the Canada Revenue Agency Act (1999, c. 17) -- [ LINK ]

References: - Canada Revenue Agency -- [ LINK ] -- established and operating under the Canada Revenue Agency Act (1999, c. 17) -- [ LINK ]

- The Agency does not have the resources needed to keep the amount of unpaid taxes at a reasonable level, according to an audit by the Auditor General of Canada made public in 2006 -- [ LINK ]

- The Agency does not have the resources to address the issue of offshore tax avoidance schemes, according to an audit by the Auditor General of Canada -- [ LINK ] -- made public in February 2007; See article in the Toronto Star, Feb. 14, 2007 -- [ LINK ]

In the budget for fiscal year 2007-2008 the government admitted that the Agency needed more resources in this area, and committed in the "International Tax Fairness Initiative" section of the budget to "Provide more resources to the Canada Revenue Agency to strengthen their audit and enforcement activities" -- [ LINK ]

- The Agency has only 40 auditors who only have the capacity annually to audit 1,000 of the more than 80,000 charities in Canada, according to the Toronto Star -- [ LINK ] -- This is a potentially serious lack of resources given concerns about charities being involved in financing groups involved in illegal or violent activities in other countries. See article on this issue at: [ LINK ]

References: - An extensive Internet search found no evidence that the Canada Revenue Agency has faced threats of cuts to its regular funding.

Peer Review Comments: Funding for the Canada Revenue Agency, which administers the federal tax system (and also collects personal income taxes for all provinces except Quebec), is the third biggest program to which public tax money goes. Its operations cost about 2 cents of each tax dollar ($3.7 billion). See Dept of Finance Canada: [ LINK ]

References: - An extensive Internet search found no examples of discrimination in the enforcement of tax laws by the Canada Revenue Agency.

- However, the following problems have been identified concerning the uniformity of enforcement of tax laws by the Canada Revenue Agency: - The Agency does not have the resources needed to keep the amount of unpaid taxes at a reasonable level, according to an audit by the Auditor General of Canada made public in 2006 -- [ LINK ]

- The Agency does not have the resources to address the issue of offshore tax avoidance schemes, according to an audit by the Auditor General of Canada -- [ LINK ] -- made public in February 2007; See article in the Toronto Star, Feb. 14, 2007 -- [ LINK ]

In the budget for fiscal year 2007-2008 the government admitted that the Agency needed more resources in this area, and committed in the "International Tax Fairness Initiative" section of the budget to "Provide more resources to the Canada Revenue Agency to strengthen their audit and enforcement activities" -- [ LINK ]

- The Agency has only 40 auditors who only have the capacity annually to audit 1,000 of the more than 80,000 charities in Canada, according to the Toronto Star -- [ LINK ] This is a potentially serious lack of resources given concerns about charities being involved in financing groups involved in illegal or violent activities in other countries. See article on this issue at: [ LINK ]

References: - Responsibility for customs and excise is shared between: - Canada Revenue Agency established and operating under the Canada Revenue Agency Act (1999, c. 17) -- [ LINK ] and - Canada Border Services Agency -- [ LINK ] -- established and operating under the Canada Border Services Agency Act (2005, c. 38) -- [ LINK ]

References: - Canada Border Services Agency -- [ LINK ] -- established and operating under the Canada Border Services Agency Act (2005, c. 38) -- [ LINK ]

- Serious questions have been raised about the training, knowledge and professionalism of some of the staff of the Canada Border Services Agency (specifically students hired for part-time positions during the summer months, and some of those students who are hired full-time after their summer posting) in a report by CBC News -- [ LINK ]

- The Auditor General of Canada also raised found problems with the training of Agency staff, specifically in the area of values and ethics, and with the practices of the Agency, specifically in contracting practices, in an audit made public in November 2006 -- [ LINK ]

- In January 2007, Canadian airports also raised concerns about the consistency of Agency staffing levels across the province of Ontario -- [ LINK ]

- An extensive Internet search found no other publicly identified problems with the staff of the Agency.

References: - Canada Border Services Agency -- [ LINK ] -- established and operating under the Canada Border Services Agency Act (2005, c. 38) -- [ LINK ]

- An extensive Internet search resulted in no information suggesting that the Canada Border Services Agency does not receive regular funding.

References: - An audit made public in June 2006 by the federal Canadian Privacy Commissioner found that the Agency does not have needed personal information management systems in place to ensure fair treatment and proper identification of travellers -- [ LINK ]

- A lawsuit was filed in January 2007 against the Agency, among others, concerning racial profiling over several past years by Agency staff -- [ LINK ]

- The Canadian Human Rights Commission -- www.chrc-ccdp.ca -- signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Agency in December 2005 to attempt to prevent discrimination and resolve complaints quickly -- [ LINK ]