Most of as Canadian tax payers just follow the laws of the land and in many cases outside of knowing about our supreme leader being the Prime Minister we tend not to pay too much attention to the other authority figures, like the leader of the CRA, for example.
As Canadian citizens though, responsible for paying taxes we really should be pro active in at least some basic knowledge as to who oversees the fulfilment of the laws, rules and regulations that we have to follow.
We tend to complain about our tax laws but that is as far as it goes. We just assume that whoever is put in charge of the CRA is going to basically go with the flow in respect to the way things are. Perhaps though, with the right Minister of Revenue in charge of it all at least significant changes could be made by the Minister having a voice at Parliament.
Maybe this will be the case now that a new Finance Minister has been put into place and is now in charge of the CRA. In July of 2013 the Honourable Kerry-Lynn D. Findlay was appointed as the new minister. With her background as a lawyer and her many positions in the public service it could very well be that she will bring a breath of fresh air to this segment of the Government. Prior to this assignment this Minister held a short tenure as the Associate Minister of National Defence to which she was appointed in February 2013. In all this new Minister of National Revenue has only been a member of the House of Commons since 2011.
While the Minister is the public figure as the now current “boss” of the CRA it has to be remembered that under here are numerous officials of which have major responsibilities to fulfill. Amongst these are the Board of Management which is comprised of 15 individual members each of which are appointed to their respective positions by the Governor of Council. They have the huge mandate of keeping control over the organization and management of the CRA. Following them are numerous other professionals that must over see the various segments of the taxation department.
While this gives you a little insight as to the chain of command and workings of the CRA, it most likely has no direct impact on the way you view your tax obligations. Don’t forget that you can make life a whole lot easier for yourself when it comes to taxes if you use a Toronto tax accountant as a resource for your tax matters.
