Good morning, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee to present the CRA's 2018-19 supplementary estimates (B) and the 2019-20 interim estimates, and to answer any questions you may have on either of these funding requests.

I won't reintroduce everybody, as you have already done that, but I have with me today officials who can help me to answer any of the questions you have.

Mr. Chair, as you are aware, the CRA is an organization that serves Canadians and is responsible for the administration of federal tax programs and certain provincial and territorial tax programs, as well as the delivery of a number of benefit payment and other programs.

The CRA is committed to serving millions of Canadians each year through the administration of Canada’s taxes and benefits. The CRA works to administer taxes fairly and in a way that provides Canadians with the information they need to comply with their obligations. We strive to build Canadians’ trust and confidence in Canada’s tax and benefit administration.

The CRA is committed to improving its services and to providing Canadians with a world-class administration. I would note that recently we launched the current tax filing season. The CRA is working to ensure that Canadians know about new and updated services available to them to help them prepare their taxes.

Now I'll provide the committee with a brief overview of the supplementary estimates (B) and the interim estimates.

On the supplementary estimates (B), the agency previously tabled 2018-19 main estimates and supplementary estimates (A), including statutory estimates such as employee benefits. Through these estimates today, supplementary estimates (B), the Canada Revenue Agency is seeking an increase of $18.3 million in its voted and statutory authorities for the following four items:

First, the agency is seeking $13.1 million in incremental funding to administer the federal fuel charge, including the climate action incentive.

Second, the agency is also seeking $374,000 to respond to the recommendations of the Report of the Consultation Panel on the Political Activities of Charities, which includes support related to legislative changes to the Income Tax Act. This funding is primarily for outreach and communications with charities.

Third, the agency is seeking a transfer of $2.9 million from Global Affairs Canada for the global knowledge sharing platform for tax administrations. The platform supports capacity building in developing countries and will equip them to deal with the global challenge of international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance.

Since 2016, the agency has successfully operated a knowledge sharing platform prototype to ensure it responds to stakeholders' needs. The funding is required to develop an end-state platform modelled on the prototype. The platform will meet global expectations with respect to platform stability and information security, and serve to better support future growth and modifications. It will provide access to virtual classrooms, communities of practice and a broad library of global best practices in tax administration. This is an example of Canadian leadership and innovation.

Last, also included in the supplementary estimates is a statutory increase of $1.9 million for employee benefit costs associated with the additional funding from the Treasury Board submissions being sought through these estimates.

If approved, these supplementary estimates would increase the agency's 2018-19 authorities to $4.6 billion.

We are now moving on to the 2019-20 interim estimates. In order to begin the 2019-20 fiscal year, the Canada Revenue Agency is seeking a total of $869 million through the interim estimates. This represents the funding required to cover expected payments that will occur in the first quarter of the fiscal year for ongoing operations. The funding being requested as part of the interim estimates is roughly one-quarter of the voted appropriations that will be sought by CRA through the 2019-20 main estimates.

Approximately $4.4 billion in total funding is anticipated through the 2019-20 main estimates. Of this amount, $3.5 billion requires approval by Parliament. The remaining $967.4 million represents statutory forecasts that do not require additional approval, such as contributions to employee benefit plans and children's special allowance payments.

In closing, the resources sought through these estimates will allow the Canada Revenue Agency to continue to deliver on its mission to administer tax, benefits, and other programs, and to ensure compliance on behalf of governments across Canada.

At this time, Mr. Chair, I'd be pleased to respond to any questions the committee may have.

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