Program directory · Canada Revenue Agency
Taxpayer Relief
- Department
- Canada Revenue Agency
- Program code
- BRA07 (CCRA)
- Core responsibility
- Tax
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
We administer the process under which the Minister of National Revenue may, under legislative provisions, grant taxpayers relief from penalties and interest that arise through no fault of their own, an inability to pay, or circumstances beyond their control. Our activities, including taxpayer education and assistance, are resulting in increased taxpayer awareness of the penalties and interest relief provisions and what they should do to seek relief. We review requests in an impartial and timely manner so that taxpayers obtain relief where warranted.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2017-18. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxpayer Relief | This program | 2017-18 – 2028-29 | $319M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Spending $25.7M, against $18.9M in 2019-20 (+36%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Employees (FTEs) 443, against 283 in 2020-21 (+57%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Spending $34.6M, against $25.7M in 2020-21 (+34%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Employees (FTEs) 675, against 443 in 2021-22 (+52%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Spending $53.6M, against $34.6M in 2021-22 (+55%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Employees (FTEs) 859, against 675 in 2022-23 (+27%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending $80.4M, against $53.6M in 2022-23 (+50%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned employees (FTEs) 382, against 753 in 2024-25 (−49%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned spending $36.6M, against $69.1M in 2024-25 (−47%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 85% | 2019 | 87.5% | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 85% | 2020 | 90.8% | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 85% | 2021 | 42% Please note that this Program Inventory indicator is also an external service standard. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) processing times were impacted by an emphasis on implementing Canada’s Economic Response Plan to support Canadians and businesses facing hardship, and by public health measures that limited the number of staff permitted in CRA offi… | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 85% | 2022 | 24.4% The Taxpayer Relief Program continued to see a decrease in its service standard in 2021-22. This downward trend stems from the COVID-19 pandemic that caused the program to temporarily cease its operations for approximately 5 months at the onset of the pandemic, followed by additional waves and natural disasters affecting Canadians, contributing to higher-than-normal number of requests for relief… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 85% | 2023 | 39% In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, 39% of these decisions were issued within this standard. The CRA continued to receive a higher-than-normal number of requests, which affected its ability to issue decision letters for taxpayer relief requests within the established service standard. The CRA is temporarily increasing its resources and leveraging technology for the processing of taxpayer relief request… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 85% | 2024 | 72% The CRA continued to be impacted by an increase in taxpayer relief requests, which outpaced the program’s capacity. The increase affected the CRA’s ability to meet its service standard. The CRA is temporarily increasing its resources and leveraging technology for the processing of taxpayer relief requests to improve results in the 2024-25 fiscal year. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 85% | 2025 | 84% The Taxpayer Relief Program improved its result from 72% to 84% in 2024–25, through an increase in temporary resources and program modernization efforts. However, the program continues to experience an unprecedented increase of new taxpayer relief requests that is expected to outpace the program’s capacity in 2025–2026. | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 85% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | — | $20M |
| 2018-19 | $17.5M | $16.9M |
| 2019-20 | $18.5M | $18.9M |
| 2020-21 | $18.6M | $25.7M |
| 2021-22 | $20.8M | $34.6M |
| 2022-23 | $21.4M | $53.6M |
| 2023-24 | $48.6M | $80.4M |
| 2024-25 | $35.6M | $69.1M |
| 2025-26 | $36.6M | — |
| 2026-27 | $37.8M | — |
| 2027-28 | $37.6M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $37.7M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 248 | 249 |
| 2018-19 | 238 | 247 |
| 2019-20 | 272 | 266 |
| 2020-21 | 211 | 283 |
| 2021-22 | 276 | 443 |
| 2022-23 | 279 | 675 |
| 2023-24 | 602 | 859 |
| 2024-25 | 377 | 753 |
| 2025-26 | 382 | — |
| 2026-27 | 411 | — |
| 2027-28 | 410* | — |
| 2028-29 | 411* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $17,479,178 | $17,446,626 | $17,551,477 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $18,522,382 | $18,607,441 | $19,755,419 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $18,571,499 | $19,730,550 | $19,654,820 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $20,807,679 | $19,718,961 | $19,783,462 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $21,393,119 | $21,271,987 | $21,215,113 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $48,608,656 | $26,971,296 | $27,280,173 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $35,582,523 | $35,175,378 | $35,368,120 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $36,625,537 | $36,802,538 | $36,759,962 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $37,760,455 | $37,613,582 | $37,675,016 | ||||||||
| Actual | $16,915,389 | $18,875,597 | $25,732,803 | $34,558,425 | $53,627,425 | $80,422,218 | $69,072,023 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
