Statistics Canada's processing schedule is dependent on Revenue Canada's processing schedule. Currently, the Profiles can be released no earlier than 22 months after the end of the reference tax year. By using administrative tax records as a source of data, Statistics Canada is able to produce detailed financial data without additional response burden on business. However, there are some conceptual and quality limitations to using this administrative data. One such limitation is the purpose for which the data are being created.
Businesses file tax forms for the purpose of being assessed income tax.
As such, there is financial incentive for filers to legally minimize their tax bills. Using tax rules that allow such practices as deferring income or expenses to a year later or earlier than actually realized can cause some statistical distortion in the tax reporting of actual business operations in a given year. For example, some businesses will report rent expenses separately from utilities expenses, while others will report one figure for rent and utilities combined. The lack of reporting standards, as well as different accounting practices, can lead to significant data variability. Another limitation of administrative data is that Statistics Canada cannot contact a business for the purpose of clarifying figures reported on a tax form, which limits the ability to ensure the accuracy and consistency of the data.