CRA’s Efforts to Combat Tax Avoidance and Evasion

On May 3rd and 5th, the Standing Committee on Finance (Parliament of Canada) conducted some interesting hearings on alleged international tax avoidance and evasion.

These hearings can be viewed at length (4 hours) here : http://www.parl.gc.ca/Committees/en/FINA

Both tax practitioners and CRA officials were asked to provide their perspective on the matter at hand.

Once again, tax complexity, tax fairness, tax competitiveness and the needs for tax transparency were front and center in the comments provided by the various participants…

Some of the exchanges were somehow off topic but others including the policy intent of the government of Canada with respect to the Protocol Amending the Agreement Between Canada and Barbados for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital, Done at Bridgetown on 22 January 1980 were absolutely fascinating.

In a nutshell, it is always worth reminding ourselves that it is the governments who make the domestic and international tax rules that the practitioners and businesses must cope with, not the other way around…

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

The convergence of DRTP Consulting’s tax, accounting and economics expertise makes a difference. The information in this blog post is general information only. Data and information come from sources believed to be reliable but complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. DRTP Consulting Inc. or the author are not responsible or liable for any error, omission or inaccuracy in such information. The opinions expressed in this blogpost are those of the author. Readers should seek advice and counsel from DRTP Consulting Inc. as required.