Canada Revenue Agency collectors recovered more than $8.2 billion from delinquent taxpayers last year, but an internal audit says weak oversight, inconsistent controls and gaps in tracking are hampering efforts to collect billions more in unpaid taxes.The CRA would not disclose the total number of individual and corporate taxpayers with outstanding accounts.“There are limited processes in place to monitor and confirm that controls are working as intended and address identified performance issues,” auditors wrote in the report Accounts Receivable National Inventory.“The internal audit team identified some areas that can be improved.”Blacklock's Reporter said the Accounts Receivable National Inventory includes tax debts of less than $1 million that are automatically risk-scored and assigned to collection officers.Accounts are divided into categories including regular T1 accounts, business accounts, T1 taxpayers with employment income exceeding $40,000, vulnerable populations and deceased taxpayers.Collectors recovered more than $8.2 billion owed by 171,796 taxpayers in 2025, according to the audit. However, auditors identified shortcomings in the way files are assigned, monitored and managed.“There is no definition or documented criteria for what constitutes a ‘complex’ account,” auditors wrote. “The term ‘complex’ seems to be a proxy for an account requiring more time and resources.”The audit also found limited mechanisms at CRA headquarters and regional offices to effectively manage assigned inventories.A random sample of delinquent taxpayers who agreed to payment schedules found 56% of payment arrangements were suspended at least once.“No mechanism appears to be in place to measure, monitor or address the frequency of suspended payment arrangements,” auditors wrote.The CRA also did not adequately track individual tax accounts transferred between collection officers, according to the report..Auditors examined accounts classified as “resolved while unassigned” or “self-resolved” and found 20% had previously been assigned to National Inventory collectors. Those accounts represented approximately $604.9 million in cash collected.“There is no process to track, monitor or manage the assigned agent inventories that are collapsed and then become unassigned,” the report said.In the 2024 fiscal year, auditors identified 611 collapsed inventories containing 128,958 accounts that went from assigned to unassigned status before being returned to the inventory.The audit also raised concerns about whether files were consistently being directed to the appropriate collection officers.“Limited controls are in place to define, assess or monitor the allocation of files to the right National Inventory agents,” auditors wrote.Regional offices have developed their own tools to meet production and quality targets, a practice auditors said limits the CRA’s ability to maintain consistent collection standards nationwide.Auditors said more consistent and timely collection practices across regions could improve the agency’s handling of delinquent taxpayers and its ability to recover outstanding debts.“Limited controls are in place to facilitate an enterprise level continuous improvement in the effective collection of lower risk, low complexity accounts,” the report concluded.
