The 'BLOAT' At The CRA :-( | Page 4 | Your stories | Discussion forum

UPDATE TO THAT LAST MESSAGE:

I just watched a CBC National report about troubles at CRA that highlights major failures of staffing, system "upgrades" and horrible client discouragement.

Maybe I shouldn't be eager to let them off the hook...

I'm sure that they'll just install some bug-infested AI chatbot and claim that everything is fixed and that any problems are those of the callers/users.

Dean said

Anyone else having those ⬆️ problems with the CRA❓
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Yes.

Got estimated wait times of over an hour multiple times, even when I called early, like 7 am! I stopped trying and just filed a notice of objection.

Even if one gets through, CRA likely can't do it over the phone. The agent will just give instructions how to either (1) sign into My Account and complete an online form or (2) order/download the paper form and mail/fax the completed form in.

Authorizing an accountant for representative access, mentioned in the CBC video, is like that. See CRA: How to give authorization. There's no actual option to authorize by phone.

For estates, the applicant needs to provide CRA the death certificate and copy of the will. Neither can be done over the phone. See CRA: Represent someone who died.

Tell me again why we cannot have import/export based taxation instead of individual income tax? Just asking.

Anybody here speak French? I think you get service faster if you speak French (probably less French speakers call the CRA?).

Bill said
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I'd be interested to hear how long a notice of objection takes these days, it used to be several months at least.

Yes, it is still months for CRA to handle a notice of objection.

It was more than a month before CRA determined whether my objection was a low, medium, or high complexity objection and put my objection into the appropriate queue.

One needs to file a notice of objection anyways to protect the right to appeal if it is approaching 90 days after the notice of assessment and the matter has not been resolved. People have had their appeals dismissed in Tax Court because they didn't file a notice of objection in time regardless of the merits of their appeal.

I was offered a job at the CRA many years ago. The problem is that they don't pay enough to attract top talent (like me, LOL). Have this changed in more recent years?

I know some accountants and lawyers sojourn at the CRA (and Finance) to make contacts and to be able to add this to their resume.

It’s the worst run government agency by far, especially given its importance to the financial well-being of every Canadian.

The guys who run it continue to believe adding staff, asking for a bigger budget is the way to fix the problem, and that is the crux of the problem.

Now if the tax code can be simplified, prob can let go 70% of the staff, and still have a much better customer experience. I read somewhere Canada tax code is the longest in the world, spanning thousands and thousands of pages…