Here is a letter from Francois Boileau, Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson, at the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson, on the Systemic Examination into concerns expressed by certain Muslim-led charities around audits by the Charities Directorate and more specifically, the Research and Analysis Division (RAD). The letter discusses resource issues and why the examination has taken longer to get going and in his letter he notes:
“During our recent preliminary engagements with external stakeholders, several organizations described their experiences or those of others, in which they suggest the RAD did not respect the service rights outlined in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Specifically, many stakeholders allege that the CRA’s audit process can span years with no decision, enforcement action is not consistent and they feel they are treated arbitrarily or unfairly, and the process is intrusive and extensive, resulting in the cost of compliance being extremely high. We have also met stakeholders who were quite comfortable with RAD and its proceedings, so not all of the stakeholders were of the same views.”