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OTTAWA – The Canada Revenue Agency continues to struggle in collecting taxes it’s owed, with total uncollected tax debt soaring more than 110 per cent in the last decade to $38 billion and the cost of “doubtful accounts” unlikely to be recovered more than doubling to $13 billion.

While the CRA announced a series of new measures last week designed to crack down on tax evasion, an Ottawa Citizen analysis shows the problems the agency faces in collecting tens of billions of dollars in assessed taxes and penalties that could help fund federal programs and services.

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The federal auditor general has flagged the CRA’s challenges twice over the past decade, but it seems the problem is only getting worse.

The CRA’s total undisputed tax debt — which includes taxes, penalties and other revenues assessed or estimated over several years by the agency, but not yet collected — increased to $38 billion in the 2014-15 fiscal year from $18 billion in 2004-05.