Taxpayers can wait up to four hours to speak to a Canada Revenue agent on the phone: report

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Taxpayers can expect to wait up to four hours to speak to a Canada Revenue Agency agent, federal data shows.

Those who prefer to be contacted by email can expect to wait an average of 57 days for a reply.

“The objectives of this research included to better understand the experience of Canadians in regards to contacting the Agency,” said a study Contact Centre Focus Groups reported on by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The Agency paid pollster Sage Research Corporation of Burlington, Ontario nearly $90,000 for nine focus groups on Agency responsiveness.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) paid more than a quarter million dollars last year to distribute fake news articles written by their own employees, documents show.

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“Lengthy times waiting on hold were a major driver of dissatisfaction when calling the Agency,” wrote researchers. “It was common for participants to mention wait times of one to four hours.”

“Not only is the wait time itself annoying but it can also amplify dissatisfaction if a subsequent part of the call does not go well, e.g. the front line agent does not handle the call well or the call is dropped and one must call back,” said Focus Groups. “The majority of participants suggested a wait time of between 20 and 30 minutes would be reasonable.”

Those who were able to speak to an agent found the service unsatisfactory. “Some participants reported receiving what they perceived to be inaccurate or incomplete information,” it said.

The Auditor General’s 2017 report on Call Centres criticized the Agency for being slow and providing inaccurate information. The findings were based on auditors who posed as taxpayers and called the Agency’s 1-800 number with straightforward questions.

“They gave us wrong information almost 30 percent of the time,” wrote then-Auditor General Michael Ferguson. Questions included “when will interest be charged on my initial assessment?” and “when should I expect collection action to begin if I’m objecting to my reassessment?”

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Only a fraction has been recovered, with billions in losses to be expected.

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Those who attempted email communications would wait an average of 57 days for a reply, an Inquiry of Ministry tabled in May found. It was twice as long as the 28-day average response time in 2019.

“Eighty percent of the Agency’s responses are customized to individual taxpayers and therefore require a careful and thorough investigation and analysis before being written,” said the Inquiry. “The Agency’s communication approach is designed to address inquiries and correct any errors.”