Canada: $444 Million Investment to “Crack Down” on Tax Evasion
The Panama Papers obviously did not go unnoticed.
The OECD recently stated that “Tax administrations [are] ready to act on “Panama Papers”” in this Communiqué.
In Canada, the Government of Canada indicated this morning:
“The Government of Canada has committed to crack down on tax evasion and tax avoidance. Most middle class Canadians pay their fair share of taxes, but some wealthy individuals avoid taxes by hiding their money in offshore tax havens. This is not fair and it needs to change. These wealthy Canadians should not be able to buy their way out of paying the income tax that they owe.
Today, the Minister of National Revenue, Diane Lebouthillier, announced that the Government of Canada will invest over $444 million to enhance the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) ability to detect, audit, and prosecute tax evasion – both at home and abroad.
[…]
In order to combat tax evasion and tax avoidance, the CRA will create a special program dedicated to stopping the organizations that create – and promote – these tax schemes for the wealthy. This will result in a twelve-fold increase in the number of tax schemes examined by the CRA. This team will apply penalties and refer cases for criminal investigation, where appropriate.
The federal investment will give the CRA the ability to hire more auditors and specialists. This will increase the number of examinations focused on high-risk taxpayers – from 600 per year to 3000 per year – and will bring in $432 million in new tax revenue. In addition, the new government funding will help the CRA bring in 100 additional auditors to investigate high-risk multinational corporations, a strategy that will collect an additional $500 million in revenue over five years.”
See the complete Communiqué of the Government of Canada here.
Robert Robillard, Ph.D., CPA, CGA, Adm.A., MBA, M.Sc. Econ., M.A.P.
Senior Partner, DRTP Consulting Inc.
514-742-8086; robertrobillard “at” drtp.ca
www.drtp.ca
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