Canada Revenue Agency Explains Why No One Can File Online

It’s always difficult explaining why your efficient, integrated online service isn’t working.  Canadian tax officials have done a decent job this week of explaining why their online tax filing system was out of commission, and asking for people’s patience.

There’s a lot more public patience right now than there would be at tax deadline time.

The communications have been pretty effective so far, with occasional lapses.  Yesterday I caught a radio interview that went off message in a non-crucial way.

The spokeswoman was explaining the nature of the malfunction with their online databases.  She explained something about a table of contents and databases that weren’t talking to each other.  Way too technical, but the average listener got the point that this was just a software issue, not the result of hackers, terrorist attacks or alien invasion.

Then she stepped off the reassurance train.

Asked who can file their taxes at this point, she said, "No one can file right now."

The message up to that point was that no one can file electronically, but people can mail in their forms, or get a tax preparation agency to get started on their tax returns.  Once the computer glitch was solved, the backlog would be processed.

The difference in the messages is that one tells people they can still take action, while the other suggests no action is possible.

Not a big lapse in communications, but it underscores why it can be important to stick with consistent messages.

Globe and Mail article. 

Tags: key messages, interviews, clarity, taxes, canada revenue