Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results

Overview

The ministry’s goals and objectives presented in this section are multi-year commitments and are consistent with government priorities, and the ministry’s vision, mission, and mandate. This section also outlines how specific objectives, strategies, performance measures and targets will move the ministry toward achievement of these goals.

The ministry undertook a comprehensive review of its goals, objectives, strategies and performance measures to ensure they reflect the ministry’s new mandate and expected outcomes. As a result of this review, changes have been made. Refer to Appendix F for details.

Ministry Goals

The ministry has identified four goals that provide strategic direction to the ministry over the next three year period. They are:

• Service that meets the needs of customers, stakeholders and partners.
• Small business development.
• Amounts owed to government are paid.
• A streamlined and simplified regulatory environment.

The goals reflect the ministry’s commitment to providing excellence in its customer service, fostering a competitive environment for small business and investment in the province, creating a ‘centre of excellence’ for tax administration and revenue management to identify and collect monies owed to government, and ensuring a regulatory environment that supports economic and business competitiveness.

Additionally, the ministry has identified four key strategies that provide focus to ministry activities to ensure they support the achievement of ministry goals and objectives.

• Improve information and service to the public.
• Transform business models and processes to support improved customer service and program delivery.
• Build effective relationships and partnerships to support ministry service and program delivery.
• Continuous improvement that supports increased efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and timeliness and quality of customer service and program delivery.

Linkage to the Five Great Goals

The Government Strategic Plan¹⁵ has identified five key strategic goals for British Columbia. These goals guide activities and focus efforts across all ministries and government organizations. The Five Great Goals address literacy, healthy living, caring for those in need, a sustainable environment, and job creation.

The ministry manages revenues that fund the delivery of important programs and services that contribute to the achievement of all of the government’s Five Great Goals. In addition, the ministry administers a wide variety of tax credits and exemptions, and benefit programs that support each of the five goals. Most directly, the ministry makes a significant contribution to the success of Goal 5 — to create more jobs per capita than anywhere else in Canada.

15	View online at http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/.

More specifically, the ministry’s activities support the achievement of the Five Great Goals in the following ways:

Make British Columbia the best educated, most literate jurisdiction on the continent.

The ministry works with municipalities and local service areas to collect property taxes that pay for schools and libraries in communities across the province. The ministry administers a number of tax credits and exemptions that support literacy and access to education, for example, books and qualifying publications for educational, technical, cultural or literacy purposes are exempt of the social service tax. In addition, the ministry administers tax credits for education and tuition.

Lead the way in North America in healthy living and physical fitness.

The ministry collects medical service plan premiums to assist in funding the health care system and administers tax exemptions that support British Columbians in living healthier, more active lives. For example, social service tax exemptions are allowed for bicycles, and non-prescription drugs and vitamins.

Build the best system of support in Canada for persons with disabilities, those with special needs, children at risk, and seniors.

The ministry administers tax benefit programs and exemptions on certain products providing support to seniors and persons with disabilities or special needs. Programs and exemptions include social service tax exemptions on equipment and devices designed for use by a person with a disability, tax refunds for motor fuel used for vehicles used by persons with disabilities, and additional home owner grants to seniors and disabled residents.

Lead the world in sustainable environmental management, with the best air and water quality, and the best fisheries management, bar none.

The ministry administers numerous tax exemptions for environmentally friendly products and projects. For example, some alternate fuel vehicles, such as electric hybrid vehicles, are eligible for a social service tax exemption, as are prescribed materials and equipment used to conserve energy.

To create more jobs per capita than anywhere else in Canada.

The ministry contributes to job creation in British Columbia by:

• Working with other ministries, other levels of government, partners and the small business community to identify and implement initiatives supporting small business.
• Implementing a regulatory environment to make dealing with government easier and more efficient for citizens and small business in British Columbia.
• Ensuring streamlined, simplified and fair tax administration that supports a competitive business environment in comparison to other jurisdictions.

Cross Ministry Initiatives

Government has identified a number of cross ministry initiatives to support the accomplishment of the Five Great Goals. The ministry of Small Business and Revenue will work with other ministries and government organizations to achieve outcomes and meet government priorities in areas of shared responsibility. Specifically, the ministry will lead regulatory reform across government and will contribute to the success of the ActNow initiative and The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The ministry’s contributions to citizen-centred service delivery are addressed separately. Refer to page 33.

Regulatory Reform in British Columbia

The goal of the regulatory reform initiative is to minimize unnecessary government involvement in the lives of British Columbians. This improves service to individuals and businesses, and increases British Columbia’s economic and business competitiveness.

The ministry is responsible for leading the regulatory reform initiative for government. However, it is the efforts of all government ministries and agencies that will lead to success. Key initiatives over the three years of this plan include:

• Lead regulatory reform across government. The ministry will provide strategic leadership, support and guidance to this initiative. It will proactively advance the regulatory reform agenda in government, and identify and communicate the benefits of regulatory reform for British Columbians.
• Maintain the regulatory reductions achieved to date while improving regulatory quality. All ministries have a target of maintaining a zero net increase in regulatory requirements over the three years of this plan. This target is part of every ministry’s service plan. Before new or revised legislation or regulations are approved, ministries must complete the Regulatory Reform Criteria Checklist. Refer to Goal 4 for further information.
• Implement a new citizen-centred regulatory reform process. Ministries will identify ministry-specific projects that streamline access to government services for individuals, and reduce the steps required to comply with regulations for small business and industry. In addition, some ministries will participate in cross ministry initiatives to integrate access to government services.

The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

The ministry is working closely with the Vancouver Organizing Committee to ensure contractors, sponsors and suppliers, particularly those from other provinces and countries, are aware of their tax obligations in British Columbia. The ministry’s focus is on increasing awareness by providing educational materials and answering specific tax questions. The ministry is coordinating its activities with the Canada Revenue Agency.

ActNow

The Ministry of Small Business and Revenue will contribute to the ActNow goal of reducing tobacco use by 10 per cent among British Columbians. Smoking is a major cause of illness and death in British Columbia, and the availability of inexpensive tobacco may contribute to current smoking rates. The ministry, working with partners, will determine if there are new opportunities to improve compliance and enforcement activities to reduce the availability of inexpensive contraband tobacco.

In addition to the cross ministry initiatives above, the ministry has identified three areas requiring cross ministry contributions in order to achieve ministry goals and objectives.

Small Business Strategy

The ministry champions small business within government. The ministry has established a permanent Small Business Roundtable to provide ongoing advice to government on issues, strategies and possible actions to make British Columbia the most business friendly jurisdiction in Canada. Many different ministries and levels of government have programs and services that impact the small business sector. The Ministry of Small Business and Revenue will work with these organizations and other partners to jointly develop a Small Business Strategy, supporting the ongoing success of the small business sector.

Revenue Management

The ministry continues to focus on creating a ‘centre of excellence’ for revenue management in government. The ministry will deliver the first phase of a consolidated revenue management system in 2006/07. Following implementation of the system, the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue will work with ministries to transition their account management, billing, payment and remittance processing, and collection functions to this centralized system.

Provincial Sales Tax Review

The ministry will review the provincial sales tax (PST) policies, legislation and administrative process. The objective is to develop revenue neutral options that streamline, simplify and enhance fairness for taxpayers. The PST review will provide a venue for business and individual taxpayers to identify their key PST issues, suggest solutions, and if those solutions reduce government revenues, provide revenue neutral options to offset revenue losses. This review is being undertaken jointly with the Ministry of Finance, and will likely involve cooperation of other ministries.

Performance Plan

The ministry’s performance plan describes the strategies the ministry will employ to achieve its goals and objectives, and sets out the performance measures and targets the ministry will use to measure its success. The ministry will assess performance against established targets to inform decision-making processes, support timely operational changes and communicate progress towards ministry goals.

The ministry will regularly review performance measures to ensure measures continue to provide meaningful information, reflect ministry priorities and focus on desired outcomes for the individuals receiving ministry services. Measures will be replaced where and when appropriate, balancing the need for reliable information with reasonable cost.

Performance targets are based on past performance trends, government priorities and a focus on continuous improvement balanced by available resources. Each performance measure includes trend data, where available, and the annual performance targets for the next three years. The ministry is currently working with revenue management agencies in other jurisdictions to identify opportunities to benchmark its performance.

The ministry is committed to service excellence. This means the ministry will provide services that meet the needs of its diverse customers, stakeholders and partners. The Taxpayer Fairness and Service Code formalizes the ministry’s commitment to fairness and service principles that can be expected when dealing with the ministry.

The ministry is also committed to improving its regulatory and administrative frameworks. Tax legislation is one factor that can influence the competitiveness of the province’s investment climate compared to other jurisdictions. A current and customer-centred tax regime will assist in maintaining the competitiveness of the province as a place to live, do business and create jobs. The ministry’s focus on increasing efficiency, streamlining and simplifying, and increasing fairness for taxpayers will ease the administrative burden on those dealing with the ministry, and enhance the business climate within British Columbia.

This goal supports the achievement of all ministry goals.

This objective reflects the ministry’s commitment to provide impartial, fair and timely service to all of its customers. Ministry customers can expect prompt, quality service that meets established ministry standards, and the application of consistent policies and procedures to reduce confusion and increase fairness for all customers.

Strategies

Improve legislative, regulatory and administrative frameworks. The ministry will review the provincial sales tax (PST) to develop revenue neutral options that simplify, streamline and enhance fairness for taxpayers. This work will be undertaken jointly with the Ministry of Finance. A comprehensive consultation process will solicit input to the review.

The ministry is committed to providing taxpayers with a fair and timely resolution to their appeals of property assessments. The ministry will review BC Assessment legislation and policies to identify and implement improvements to the property assessment and appeals processes. The review will focus on improvements to customer service, and streamlining and simplifying existing processes.

Monitor service quality against established standards. The ministry will monitor performance against the service standards established in the Taxpayer Fairness and Service Code. A specific focus is to identify and implement process improvements to reduce the time it takes to produce a tax appeal final decision, and ensure the allocation of adequate resources to support timely resolution.

Develop and implement regular customer surveys and feedback mechanisms. The ministry is exploring the implementation of regular customer surveys across business areas to determine satisfaction with services and priorities for improvement. This will expand on current business area-specific surveying. The ministry also receives customer feedback from established consultative processes.

Performance Measures and Targets

Source: Ministry of Small Business and Revenue business information systems.
1	Three standards are not included in this target as baseline data is being collected during 2006/07. The ministry will report on all 12 service standards beginning in 2007/08. Refer to Appendix E to review the standards contributing to this performance measure.
2	Over time, additional service standards may be added.

Appeals resolution — elapsed time from receipt of tax appeal to final decision: This measure tracks the ministry’s success in providing a timely resolution to taxpayers’ appeals. The ministry has set very aggressive targets to resolve appeals as quickly as possible without impacting on the quality and fairness of decisions.

Success in meeting service standards: The ministry has developed a measure that reports on its performance in 12 areas of service detailed in the Taxpayer Fairness and Service Code (version 2). Appendix E identifies the 12 service standards and their associated targets. The service areas were identified and the service standards developed in consultation with small business organizations from across British Columbia.

Meeting these service standards will reflect the ministry’s success in delivering services that are a priority to customers, stakeholders and partners. Over time, the ministry plans to add to and improve its service standards based on consultation with the small business community and feedback from taxpayers.

For 2006/07, the ministry will report on performance for 9 of 12 service standards, as baselines are established for the remaining three service areas.

Small business is a significant driver of British Columbia’s economic growth and is vital to the province’s economic success. The ministry is committed to supporting a business climate in British Columbia where small business prospers. Realization of this goal will benefit all British Columbians through its positive impact on the provincial economy and job creation. This will improve British Columbia’s competitiveness as a place to live, invest and do business.

The ministry’s role is one of strategic leadership within government, promoting a strong, vibrant small business community in all regions of the province. The ministry works closely and consults with other ministries where policies and programs impact the small business community. The ministry coordinates and supports government-wide initiatives and works with a variety of partners to jointly develop proposals and implement solutions that address small business concerns. Realization of this goal is influenced by elements outside of the ministry’s control, for example, the impact of the national and global economy on the provincial economic environment, and the level of commitment of other ministries, levels of government, partners and the small business community to support small business development.

The success of small business directly impacts on job creation and the province’s economy. This objective reflects the ministry’s commitment to implement initiatives that support the ongoing development of small business.

Strategies

Assist the Small Business Roundtable. The Small Business Roundtable was established in October 2005. The ministry supports the Small Business Roundtable in carrying out their mandate. Through the roundtable, the ministry provides an effective forum to hear directly from the small business community on how the government and small business can work together to improve the economic prosperity of small business in British Columbia. The Small Business Roundtable seeks input from the small business community across the province to provide ongoing advice to government on issues, strategies and possible actions to make British Columbia the most business friendly jurisdiction in Canada.

Develop a Small Business Strategy. Government and the ministry will review the advice from the Small Business Roundtable and, working with partners, develop a Small Business Strategy.

Enhance the competitive environment for small business. The ministry reviews tax proposals and changes to existing tax mechanisms, and monitors programs and services offered in other jurisdictions with the intent to adopt ‘best practices’ and ensure British Columbia offers a competitive environment for small business. The ministry collaborates with federal, provincial and territorial partners to influence the national small business policy agenda. This strategy is also supported by the government’s Regulatory Reform Initiative. Refer to Regulatory Reform in British Columbia (page 18).

Improve coordination of small business activities across government. The ministry will work to improve the coordination of small business activities across government. This includes working with other ministries to improve program delivery for small business.

Diversify economic opportunities for small business. The ministry maintains and builds partnerships with key organizations and lever resources to offer services, products and tools to entrepreneurs. This includes providing province-wide access to business information. The ministry maintains a set of core information products to support small business start-up and growth, and develops special interest/sector information products. Information products are distributed through a variety of service organizations, notably Small Business BC. The ministry will also explore new channels for providing information including an interactive website that supports the exchange of information between the ministry and small business community.

The ministry will work with leaders from the Aboriginal community, women, youth, ethnic groups and others that might be identified through the Small Business Roundtable, to diversify economic opportunities for small business that directly benefit these groups. Attention will also be given to regional economic opportunities.

Encourage small business development. The ministry encourages small business development by raising the profile of small business opportunities, and highlights and celebrates the contribution of small business to the economy and communities. Expanding on current involvement, the ministry will participate in the development of Small Business Month.

Performance Measures and Targets

1	Future performance measure(s) and target(s) will be determined following the development of the Small Business Strategy.

Implement a Small Business Strategy: This measure reflects the ministry’s commitment to implement initiatives that support the government, the ministry, other ministries, partners and the small business community in addressing impediments to small business success. The targets established reflect the ministry’s commitment to implement initiatives in a timely manner. Once the Small Business Strategy is developed, new performance measures may be identified.

The ministry is responsible for creating a ‘centre of excellence’ for tax administration and revenue management for the Province. This means implementing fair, efficient and effective tax administration and revenue management processes to identify and collect amounts owed under the statutes administered by the ministry. In 2004/05, the ministry administered 56 per cent ($18.4 billion) of all provincial government revenues. Successful tax administration and revenue management depends on the voluntary payment of financial obligations, balanced by education, assistance, audit, compliance and collection activities. Revenues received fund important government programs and services.

The ministry’s success in meeting this goal and associated objectives can be influenced by conditions beyond its control. Most notably, the health of the provincial economy, which can impact on both the total revenue the ministry receives and the voluntary payment of financial obligations. Refer to Strategic Context (page 8).

Performance Measures and Targets

Source: Ministry of Small Business and Revenue business information systems.
1	This measure reports on all payments received during a fiscal year, including payments on outstanding accounts receivable from previous years, as a percentage of revenue identified as owed to government during the fiscal year. Revenue identified as owed to government includes amounts billed by the ministry, self-assessed by individuals and businesses, and identified by the ministry through audit and compliance activities.
2	Targets will be reviewed and updated, if required, as the ministry assumes new, or if there are changes to existing, revenue programs.

Percentage of identified revenue collected: This measure provides an indication of the success of the ministry in collecting all amounts, under its administration, owed to government. Specifically, the measure reports on payments received as a percentage of the revenue identified as owed to government during a fiscal year.

Targets are based on several assumptions — the continued health of the provincial economy and increased voluntary compliance as a result of ministry activities. Minor increases in performance targets translate into millions of dollars in payments received.

This objective focuses on the receipt of revenue through voluntary compliance. Voluntary compliance is the foundation of the taxation system in British Columbia. It is the most efficient and effective way of collecting revenue owed to government. Voluntary compliance means individuals and businesses meet their financial obligations without the need for intervention — audit, compliance or collection activities. Improvements in voluntary compliance result in increased funds available to support government programs and services.

The ministry’s success in meeting this objective is dependent on the willingness and ability of customers to pay the correct amount on time. It is expected voluntary compliance will increase if the ministry makes it easier for individuals and businesses to identify and understand their financial obligations to government.

Strategies

Improving information and service to the public. The ministry is committed to service excellence based on a citizen-centred approach to service delivery. The ministry helps British Columbians to better understand their financial obligations by providing clear, complete, accurate and timely information. This includes providing educational sessions and seminars across the province, timely statutory interpretation and ruling services, and multi-channel access to information. To ensure information, education and outreach programs meet the needs of customers, the ministry consults with a wide variety of stakeholders to identify their requirements and priorities. A new initiative this year involves producing all new information and rewriting existing information in plain language, and developing information targeted at the specific needs of business and industry sectors.

Performance Measures and Targets

Source: Ministry of Small Business and Revenue business information systems.
1	Tax payments include consumption (hotel room, motor fuel, tobacco and social service tax), property and mineral taxes, and oil and gas royalties.
2	The 2004/05 Actual reflects a new baseline. The performance measure has been revised to include only on-time tax payments of those obligated to make a payment and excludes those required to submit a remittance when no tax is owed.

On-time tax payments: This measure provides an indication of taxpayers’ understanding of their financial obligations and their willingness to comply. It tracks the remittance of tax payments, reporting on the percentage made on or before their legislated due date. When the ministry’s customer service initiatives are successful, it is anticipated the percentage of on-time tax payments will increase as more taxpayers understand their responsibilities and the requirements of the tax system.

A new baseline was set in 2004/05 when the calculation was revised to include only tax returns where a payment was required. Targets are set to improve on the current high level of achievement.

This objective focuses on identifying outstanding revenues owed to the Province, and ensuring individuals and businesses understand and meet their obligations. The ministry undertakes audit, compliance and collection activities to recover outstanding monies owed, and to promote fairness and equity by leveling the playing field for the majority of taxpayers who meet their financial obligations voluntarily. These activities assist in educating taxpayers and debtors on their obligations, identifying monies owed, ensuring amounts owed are collected, and deterring customers who might otherwise avoid paying. These activities also contribute to increasing voluntary compliance (Objective 1).

Successful audit, compliance and collection activities ensure monies owed are identified, recovered and made available to address government strategic priorities and deliver important government programs and services.

Strategies

Audits and reviews. The ministry ensures the audit and compliance program is adequately resourced and conducts risk assessments to focus its efforts on areas at highest risk for non-compliance. Audits are also performed outside of the province to ensure British Columbia businesses are not at a tax disadvantage compared to their out-of-province counterparts operating in the province. In addition, the ministry continues to improve the timeliness of audit assessments, and improve collaboration and accountability across jurisdictions to pursue joint tax enforcement activity.

Collection processes. The ministry focuses resources on debt collection functions and strives to continually improve revenue recovery tools and approaches to ensure collection functions are effective.

Performance Measures and Targets

Source: Ministry of Small Business and Revenue business information systems.
1	Bracketed figures represent incremental revenue normalized to remove extraordinary recoveries. Extraordinary recoveries include unanticipated and one-time incremental revenue.
2	2002/03–2004/05 figures reflect incremental revenue identified by the ministry. 2005/06 is the incremental revenue target identified under the Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act.

Percentage of incremental revenue target achieved: This measure is an indication of the ministry’s success in identifying outstanding amounts owed to government through audit and compliance activities. The amounts identified are incremental revenue. Incremental revenue targets are approved annually by Treasury Board and are set out under the Balanced Budget and Ministerial Accountability Act. Over each of the next three years, the ministry plans to meet the incremental revenue target set out annually under the Act.

Number of reviews and audits performed: This measure provides a reasonable indication of the level of effort the ministry is employing to support this objective. Over the three years of this plan, the ministry will focus its audit and review activities on priority areas based on non-compliance risks.

Average assessment per audit position: This measure reports on the amount of incremental revenue generated, on average, per audit position. This measure is used to assess overall and average ministry activity for the purposes of setting strategic direction and expenditure/resource allocation. It is not used to monitor individuals’ performance.

Percentage of overdue accounts collected: This measure is an indication of the effectiveness of the ministry’s debt collection activities in recovering the outstanding amounts owed to government. It reports on the percentage of the outstanding accounts receivable, under the ministry’s administration, that are collected. The ministry will establish a baseline and targets during 2006/07, and will begin reporting on its performance in 2007/08.

The ministry leads regulatory reform for government. Through a focused and responsible approach to regulatory reform, the province is moving toward a modern, citizen centred, regulatory system that encourages prosperity, innovation and opportunity, while preserving those regulations that are demonstrably effective in protecting public health, safety and the environment.

The ministry provides strategic leadership, identifying and coordinating the implementation of initiatives that support regulatory reform across government. Success in realizing this goal and the objective below is supported by the government-wide commitment to the benefits of regulatory reform.

This objective focuses on the reduction of regulatory burden in order to make it easier, faster and more efficient for individuals to access government programs and services, and for small business and industry to comply with government regulations. British Columbia’s regulatory reform achievements have reduced regulatory burden and created a more streamlined regulatory environment. This saves British Columbians time and money, and reduces administrative costs for government. Continued improvement in the regulatory climate is a key requirement for attracting new investment and building a more competitive economy.

Strategies

Maintain regulatory reduction achievements. The government will minimize the regulatory burden by eliminating one regulatory requirement for every new one introduced, while continuing to improve regulatory quality.

Implement a new citizen-centred regulatory reform process. The ministry will implement a new citizen-centred regulatory reform process that involves ministries across government. Refer to Regulatory Reform in British Columbia (page 19).

Improve regulatory quality. In 2001, government directed that all new legislation and regulations be developed in compliance with the ten criteria of the Regulatory Reform Policy,¹⁶ which are based on internationally recognized principles of good quality regulatory design. The ministry will ensure the continued use of the Regulatory Reform Policy across government. Use of the proven criteria will support ministries in improving regulatory quality by developing regulations that are accountable, results-based and transparent.

Build capacity for regulatory reform across government. The ministry builds capacity for regulatory reform across government through activities such as developing guidance and resource materials, training, workshops and conferences to share best practices.

16	For information on the Regulatory Reform Policy, view online at http://www.regulatoryreform.gov.bc.ca/regreformpolicy.htm.

Performance Measures and Targets

	Source: Ministry of Small Business and Revenue business information systems.

Government-wide regulatory requirements: The ministry tracks the number of regulatory requirements across government to determine regulatory burden. Ministries and agencies are expected to maintain their June 2004 regulatory reduction achievements, with a target of a zero net increase over the next three years. The targets established reflect government’s commitment to maintain the regulatory reduction achievements realized in the first four years of the regulatory reform initiative.

Requirements to access government programs and services, and comply with regulations: The ministry will develop a new performance measure that tracks government-wide efforts to streamline access to government programs and services, and reduce the steps required to comply with regulations. The measure will be developed and a baseline established in 2006/07. Performance reporting will begin in 2007/08.

Ministry Performance Plan Summary

The ministry has established five strategic goals to guide it towards realizing its vision. These goals reflect government priorities and the ministry’s vision, mission and values. The following diagram demonstrates the linkages between the goals, objectives and performance measures of the ministry and government’s Five Great Goals.