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Profile: Reid Doig
Programmer’s work at Canada Revenue Agency provides “many happy returns”
Finding his calling
Simply put, Reid Doig’s job at the Canada Revenue Agency is to ensure “many happy returns.” That’s “income tax” returns, and as of April 16, 2008, Canadians had filed 8,304,018 tax returns on the Internet, using the Canada Revenue Agency’s EFILE and NETFILE applications—that’s a lot of on-line returns!
Reid is a programmer/analyst in the T1 Electronic Filing Section of the Agency’s Information Technology Branch. He works on the Internet tax filing tools that a growing number of Canadians use to file their annual income tax returns. The on-line service ensures faster processing of the returns and faster refunds for taxpayers.
On high alert
filing their taxes so
we try to make it
as easy as we can.”
The peak season for filing income tax returns runs from February to the end of April. That’s when Reid and his colleagues go on high alert, working around the clock to ensure that the Internet applications they’ve developed are running properly, and that the system is secure.
“Nobody really likes filing their taxes,” Reid says, “so we try to make it as easy as we can. And that means being in 24‑hour support mode, so that the systems are always operating problem‑free.”
Off-peak times have their own pressures
Besides dealing with the peak income tax season, Reid’s team is constantly updating and developing new processes. During the “conversion cycle” from May to September, Reid and his colleagues work on Internet tools like EFILE and NETFILE to prepare them for the next filing season.
Jumped at the chance
Reid has a bachelor of arts in economics and a certificate in computer programming from Algonquin College in Ottawa.
“The Canada Revenue Agency had a co-op program with Algonquin, so I got a co‑op placement with the Agency. I really enjoyed the people and the working environment, so when they offered me a position, I jumped at the chance.”
New challenges every day
After 10 years with the Agency, Reid says he’s never bored. Each day brings new challenges and he particularly enjoys the challenge of learning new programming languages.
Reid gets a lot of satisfaction from his job because he knows he is making it easier for Canadians to meet their tax obligations. And that’s valuable for all Canadians—with many happy returns.
- Next: Margaret Gillis says she took her job because she has “a really keen interest in health care.”
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