The mandate of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman is to assist, advise, and inform the Minister about any matter relating to services provided by the CRA. The Taxpayers’ Ombudsman fulfills this mandate by raising awareness, upholding taxpayer service rights, and facilitating the...

The position of Taxpayers’ Ombudsman (the Ombudsman) was created to support the government priorities of stronger democratic institutions, increased transparency within institutions, and fair treatment. As an independent and impartial officer, the Ombudsman handles complaints about the service of...

Operating at arm’s length from the Canada Revenue Agency, the Office of the Taxpayers' Ombudsman (OTO) works to enhance the Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) accountability in its service to, and treatment of, taxpayers through independent and impartial reviews of service-related complaints and...

This paper explores the intersection of digital innovation, digital services, access, and taxpayer rights in the Canadian context, in light of the experiences of vulnerable populations in Canada, from the perspective of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman. Many aspects of the CRA’s digitalization...

The Annual Report by the Office of the taxpayer's ombudsman provides key achievements, identifies Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) service issues and outlines trends in complaints. In addition, the report includes three recommendations to the Minister of National Revenue and the Chair of the Board of...

The CVITP provides people, who may otherwise have difficulty accessing income tax and benefit return filing services, with an opportunity to meet their filing obligations. Often, filing a return is required to gain access to, or continue to receive, the government credits and benefits...

The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada releases statistics on insolvency (bankruptcies and proposals) numbers in Canada. The latest statistics released on November 4, 2020 show that the number of insolvencies in Canada increased in the third quarter of 2020 by 7.9% compared to the...

Many volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) sites experience inaccuracy in the taxes prepared according to audits conducted by the treasury inspector general for tax administration (TIGTA). Effective training strategies may influence the accuracy rates of tax returns prepared at VITA sites....

More than $3.89 billion in federal income taxes have been returned to those with modest wages as a result of free tax preparation services offered by IRS-certified volunteers in 2014. A new breakdown of national IRS data shows that tax preparers at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites and...

This report explores the financial services complaint experiences of Canadians at various income levels who used the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI)’s service. The national, not-for-profit organization collected demographic and case data for almost 1,000 closed cases...

This brief highlights findings from a small-scale pilot that integrated Virtual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) services at two New York City Head Start programs during the 2013 tax season. The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE) coordinated the...

This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) paper, uses administrative and survey data to examine year-to-year changes in individual earnings and household income since 1984. It also examines variability in earnings and income by factors such as age, sex, and education. In keeping with CBO’s mandate...

If you have a complaint, it is important you fully understand your rights, so that you don’t feel taken advantage of during the process. After reading the guide, you will: ● Know how and who to contact when you first make a complaint. ● Understand your basic rights during the process,...

Canadian investors need more and better information to protect themselves  both when they act on their own and when they retain lawyers. This handbook is intended to help Canadian investors better understand the choices they face when making a complaint and the impact of those choices. It can also...

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) supports Parliament by providing economic and financial analysis for the purposes of raising the quality of parliamentary debate and promoting greater budget transparency and accountability. This report responds to a request from Senator Yuen Pau Woo to...

This activity sheet is from Module 2 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources from Prosper Canada. Maria and her husband Fernando worked together cleaning a big office building at night. They were hired by a man who ran a large cleaning company. They each got a paycheque twice a month. In...

This brief and an accompanying interactive map were commissioned by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs’ Office of Financial Empowerment. The brief provides information on how many New Yorkers are unbanked and underbanked, recognizing their links to financial health. It also...

This report presents findings from a behavioural intervention designed to increase the number of incarcerated noncustodial parents in Texas who apply for modifications to reduce the amount of their child support orders. Incarcerated noncustodial parents have a limited ability to pay their...

Read this to learn what you can do if you disagree with a decision about assistance from Ontario Works (OW) or the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). This can include a decision to: refuse to give you financial assistance; reduce the amount of assistance you get; cut off your assistance....

he CFPB and the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity (the Office of Fair Lending) have taken important strides over the last year in our efforts to protect consumers from credit discrimination and broaden access to credit, as we identify new and emerging fair lending risks and monitor...

The Investor Office conducted this study to further our understanding of the experiences and behaviours of retail investors during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The study explored several topics including the financial preparedness, savings behaviour, financial situations, changing preference, and...

The Municipal Innovation Exchange (MIX) project team created this Toolkit to assist municipalities - individual line managers or project owners, or municipal strategic teams (like a Smart Cities Office) - that are contemplating or undertaking a procurement by means of innovation partnership. The...

The 2019 Financial Literacy Annual Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlights the Bureau’s Start Small, Save Up campaign, the Office of Financial Education’s foundational research, in conjunction with the Office of Older Americans, to understand the pathways to financial...

In this report, The Common Cents Lab and MetLife Foundation share findings from the experiments we have run over the past several years with VITA providers to improve tax-related outcomes. We encourage you to consider implementing these ideas and engaging in additional conversations about how to...

Tax time financial capability services offered at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites range from encouraging taxpayers to save a portion of their refund to free credit reviews, to referrals to financial coaching, and others in between. This report from Prosperity Now summarizes research...