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Jim, a Canadian taxpayer, lost an appeal to the Canada Revenue Agency about whether payroll taxes should be docked from his pay.

When he asked the agency to explain the decision in writing, he was told to file an Access to Information request. Six months went by and still nothing.

Far from being an isolated incident, however, the secrecy problem turned out to be endemic at the CRA, according to a new report from the federal Taxpayers' Ombudsman, which cited the man's case.

There is a "pattern" of revenue officials refusing to justify their appeal decisions in writing to frustrated taxpayers, according to an 18-page report released Tuesday by Paul Dubé, the ombudsman. This sort of response is something tax authorities routinely do in the United States, Britain and elsewhere.

"It's just fair that taxpayers be provided with the reasons for decisions," Mr. Dubé said in an interview Tuesday. "It has to be corrected."

The agency makes thousands of rulings every day, and it owes taxpayers full and clear explanations, said Mr. Dubé, a lawyer who was appointed to the newly created post two and a half years ago by the Conservative government.

"Without the why, information about a decision is not complete, accurate or clear," he pointed out in his report, The Right to Know.

Mr. Dubé said the CRA, which has had the report in its possession for 60 days, has already agreed to comply with the recommendations.

"This shows that we are able to affect change," he said. "We're going to get CRA to change in a significant way the way it does business."

Minister of National Revenue Keith Ashfield called the ombudsman's recommendations "fair and appropriate" and said he's asked the CRA to put them into effect.

"Our government is committed to ensuring the fair and equitable treatment of all Canadian taxpayers," he said.

Currently, revenue officials usually err on the side of caution when it comes to explaining their rulings, often citing an obligation to maintain confidentiality, Mr. Dubé said.

But that sort of reaction is misguided, he said, because often it is the taxpayer's own case file that is at issue.

Next up for the ombudsman is an examination of problems with the Canada Child Tax Benefit, a monthly tax-free payment to lower income parents. Mr. Dubé said administration problems account for the largest number of taxpayer complaints to his office.

The findings are due next month.

Mr. Dubé said he is also poised to complete a long-awaited report "in January at the latest" on widespread problems involving the $3-billion-a-year federal Scientific Research and Experimental Tax credit program.

Businesses have long complained about a litany of administrative problems, including a lack of consistent or scientifically-based decisions, increasingly complex requirements and lengthy delays in processing claims.

"We've heard a lot of industry complaints," Mr. Dubé said. "Now we have to put the allegations to the CRA and see what they say."

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