Prepared for Canada Revenue Agency
Prepared by Narrative Research
PSPC Contract Number: 46558-225179/001/CY
Contracted Value: $173,552.18
Award Date: November 3, 2020
Delivery Date: February 2021
Registration Number: POR 055-20
For more information, please contact: media.relations@cra-arc.gc.ca
Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français
2020-2021 Annual Corporate Research (ACR)
Executive Summary
Prepared for Canada Revenue Agency
Supplier Name: Narrative Research
February 2021
This summary presents the methodological details for the 2020-2021 Annual Corporate Research quantitative study conducted by Narrative Research, on behalf of the Canada Revenue Agency. The quantitative study was conducted through two data collection phases, a telephone survey with the general public and an online survey with small and medium sized businesses as well as tax intermediaries. Both surveys were administered November 29 – December 19, 2020.
The summary also presents the findings of the online focus groups conducted from February 1-11, 2021 by Narrative Research on behalf of the Canada Revenue Agency. This component of the research entailed a total of 16 online focus groups, namely four groups in each of Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Quebec, and Western Canada. Two business audiences were included in the study, namely tax intermediaries and small and medium sized enterprises. Two audiences within the general adult population were also included in the study, namely taxpayers 18-34 years old and those 35 years or older.
Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre:
Recherche d’entreprise annuelle de l’ARC de 2020 - 2021 - Constatations qualitatives et rapport méthodologique - résumé
This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Canada Revenue Agency. For more information on this report, please contact Canada Revenue Agency at: media.relations@cra-arc.gc.ca or at:
101 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K2 Canada
Catalogue Number: Rv4-126/2-2021E-PDF
International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 978-0-660-38669-0
Related publications (registration number: POR-055-20):
Catalogue Number: Rv4-126/1-2021E-PDF (Final Report, English)
ISBN: 978-0-660-38668-3
Catalogue Number: Rv4-126/1-2021F-PDF (Final Report, French)
ISBN: 978-0-660-38670-6
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of the Canada Revenue Agency, 2021
Table of Contents
Narrative Research Inc.
Contract Number: 46558-225179/001/CY
POR Registration Number: 055-20
Contract Award Date: November 3, 2020
Contracted Cost: $173,552.18
In 2005, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) launched an annual survey that focuses on corporate-wide issues, with the aim to provide a public opinion context for strategic planning and reporting. A review of the methodology was conducted by the CRA in 2010 which led to the redesign of the Annual Corporate Research (ACR) to include a core survey each year along with annually rotating modules and focus groups, featuring expanded target audiences. The fiscal year of 2011-2012 saw the first iteration of the ACR’s new cycle. In 2013, new questions were added to examine experiences with the CRA website. The 2013, 2016 and 2018 editions repeated the service-focused module and the 2017 iteration was the first compliance module and was repeated again in 2019. The current year is service-focused.
In this context, the CRA was interested in assessing public perceptions of taxpayers, small and medium-sized businesses, and professionals involved in assisting small businesses with their taxes, to gather background contextual information. This information will enable the CRA to gauge factors such as trust in, and satisfaction with, the CRA, contextualize other study information, inform strategic decisions, and provide information for reporting on engagement and reputation management.
Specific research objectives included to:
There were three target audiences:
There were three components to this research:
This combined qualitative-quantitative report presents the detailed findings from the qualitative portion of this study, as well as the methodological report from the quantitative component of the study. Caution must be exercised when interpreting the qualitative results from this study, as qualitative research is directional only and are not statistically projectable. The qualitative results cannot be attributed to the overall populations under study, with any degree of confidence.
I hereby certify as a Senior Officer of Narrative Research that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not contain any reference to electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the electorate, or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leader.
Peter MacIntosh
Chief Research Officer & Partner
Narrative Research
pmacintosh@narrativeresearch.ca
902-493-3832
Overall Impressions of CRA:
There is a general understanding of the role of the CRA in administering the Canadian tax system and impressions of the Agency are generally neutral to somewhat positive.
All audiences were generally aware that the role of the CRA primarily entails the collection of income tax and the administration of a number of benefits. Opinions of the CRA generally tended to be neutral to positive. Positive impressions generally included perceived improvements to the CRA website and online presence and perceptions of agents on the phone once the client actually reached one. To a lesser extent, there is an appreciation for the CRA’s administration of the income tax system, which is considered complex in nature, as well as the manner in which the Agency administered the COVID-19 emergency benefit programs. Negative impressions primarily related to wait times on the phone before reaching an agent.
COVID-19 Emergency Response:
The CRA is well regarded for its prompt and efficient distribution of COVID-19 emergency benefits, which in many cases benefited overall perceptions of the Agency.
There was a high degree of awareness of the Government of Canada emergency response benefits. Most of the SME and Intermediary participants had applied for at least one of the emergency response benefits. In the general public groups, it was a little more divided with often half applying and half not.
On the general public side, impressions of the application process were mostly positive. It was seen as straightforward and fast with only a little confusion about whether the application should be made through the Employment Insurance program or directly through the CRA.
Most of the general public participants agreed that the approach taken by CRA to get emergency response benefits into peoples’ hands quickly and to consider overpayments and repayments later was the right thing to do. A quick reaction was likely appreciated given that participants generally reported a negative impact from the COVID-19 pandemic on their personal and business finances. There was some disagreement about the process being too easy and now some people would have to pay back benefits, as well as the opinion that it might be very difficult to collect from some people. There is general consensus that overpayment of emergency benefits and related income taxes should be paid back to the CRA regardless of people’s personal situation. Being flexible in the repayment timeframe was, however, considered acceptable.
Reactions from the SMEs and the Intermediaries about the application process were also positive, but less so than the general public. There were some early criticisms of inconsistent information and spreadsheets only coming later in the process. The general consensus was these issues had improved over time since last spring.
Tax Filing:
General population participants are divided on whether they do their own taxes or have someone else prepare them. Most reported not experiencing any unusual or extra stresses last year with the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to filing their taxes and many took advantage of the longer filing period. SMEs tend to opt not to do their own taxes unless their operations are quite small. Across groups, most also did not anticipate any stress this year relating to meeting their tax filing obligations during the pandemic either.
Service Experience:
Phone and website are the main ways of communicating with and obtaining information from CRA. Improvements have been seen in both agents and in the website in recent years.
Phone:Phone is a common way to interact with the CRA and wait times to reach an agent was the main criticism.
Phone contact is relatively frequent among TIs and to a lesser extent among SMEs and the general public. The main point of frustration with phone contacts is the wait time to reach an agent. Once an agent is reached, opinions tended to be positive, but there were comments that agents could not answer more complicated questions without passing to someone else and comments about being provided inconsistent answers. SMEs and Intermediaries tended to be more critical of agents and their ability to answer questions, but it is recognized these two audiences would likely tend to have more complicated questions.
Suggestions to improve wait times included a call back service and from the Intermediaries a dedicated line for them staffed by more senior/knowledgeable agents. Their rationale was they each represent more people and they tend to only call with more complicated questions.
Across audiences and when contacting by phone, speed was the main service attribute desired, but this was followed by several others including; responsiveness, provision of accurate and reliable information, trustworthiness and reaching someone the first time who can deal with their issue.
Website:The website was positively evaluated and improvements were noted in the past few years with the online services that had been introduced.
Because of wait times on the phone, the website is often the first stop when there is a question and it is often accessed first through a search engine. Specific forms are also most commonly accessed directly from a search engine. For main service attributes, those using the website expect ease of navigation/being able to find things, ease of understanding and accuracy.
Online Portals:My Account and Represent a client were positively evaluated across sessions.
Waiting for passwords to come by mail was frequently noted as an annoyance – especially when they are replacement passwords. Only a few recognized that sending by mail might be a security measure. Account access procedures used by banks and other financial institutions were cited as current practice that the CRA should use. Familiarity with My Account and Represent a client was high and evaluations were generally positive.
Mail: Use of mail services is infrequent and mostly out of habit or requirement by the CRA, though preferred in some instances for commanding attention, being more secure and having a printed copy of documents.
Security and Personal Information:
There is a general sense that personal information is secure with the CRA.
Nobody expects zero risk when using the internet, but the overall feeling was tax-related and personal information was quite secure with the CRA. One person summarized the general feedback by saying “they have made it as secure as they can while still allowing us to access it.”
CRA Values –People First:
Awareness of this initiative was very low and participants saw little evidence that the initiative was happening.
On balance, the People First vision is seen as a good idea, but care has to be taken not to create the impression that CRA was not fair before, not trusted and did not put people first in the past. There was quite a bit of cynical reaction to the statement based on the current description that implied that People First is a “new” initiative. In spite of this, participants generally felt the basic philosophy was sound.
Reducing wait times on the phone was seen as one clear way to demonstrate that the Agency is putting people first and valuing their time. Four phrases were also tested and two of them were considered core to the service philosophy, namely:
It was believed that focusing on these service attributes would demonstrate the People First vision.