Friday 2 June 2017

Methinks The CBC and The Not So Honourable Diane Lebouthillier Minister of National Revenue picked the wrong day to show me their nasty arses N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/revenue-tax-gap-percy-downe-finance-canada-budget-officer-liberals-election-1.4142026


 574 Comments
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David Raymond Amos 
Content disabled.
David Raymond Amos
Hmmm Perhaps P.E.I. Senator Percy Downe should have read all the emails that I sent him over the years? Bet yet perhaps he should read the one I got from Minister Diane Lebouthillier just before I appeared before a panel of Judges in the Federal Court of Appeal in Fredericton NB and read them the Riot Act. Trust that I will post it within a blog I am about to make about this article i particular.

Need I say that a proud whistle-blower (namely me) against Bank Fraud, Tax Fraud, Securities Fraud and Murder has had enough of arguing mindless minions working for the Crown? The Crown does not even wish to argue why I have been barred from parliamentary properties while running for public office 5 times. Go Figure why CBC reports often about Chucky Leblanc and his barring and recent antics.

"Fredericton police arrest well-known N.B. blogger on legislature grounds"

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fredericton-police-arrest-well-known-n-b-blogger-on-legislature-grounds-1.809584

Now that I have filled the dockets of Federal Courts of Canada and the USA with lots of evidence of many crimes and already discussed such things across borders an on the public record. A Proud Whistle-blower such as is well it is High Time to get down to the serious business of embarrassing the Hell out of Theresa May, Donnie Trump and Trudeau "The Younger" in an ethical political fashion and in several courts before Trump and his pals start another War and the Economy collapses. Only this time I will likely send young hungry lawyers to speak on my behalf because I have grown very weary of arguing with monumental liars. May 24th may have been the last time I will ever be seen speaking on the public record.

Veritas Vincit
David Raymond Amos

Yo CBC moderator Good Luck with your conscience


David Raymond Amos
David Raymond Amos
@David Raymond Amos Yo Hubby Lacroix and Minister Joly why is that I was not surprised that CBC blocked this comment or why i already blogged and am now about to Tweet about it?

 https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies


  1. Replying to and

---------- Original message ----------
From: "Min.Mail / Courrier.Min (CRA/ARC)" PABMINMAILG@cra-arc.gc.ca
Date: Wed, 24 May 2017 13:10:52 +0000
Subject: Your various correspondence about abusive tax schemes - 2017-02631
To: "motomaniac333@gmail.com" motomaniac333@gmail.com

Mr. David Raymond Amos
motomaniac333@gmail.com

Dear Mr. Amos:

Thank you for your various correspondence about abusive tax schemes, and for your understanding regarding the delay of this response.

This is an opportunity for me to address your concerns about the way the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) deals with aggressive tax planning, tax avoidance, and tax evasion by targeting individuals and groups that promote schemes intended to avoid payment of tax. It is also an opportunity for me to present the Government of Canada’s main strategies for ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.

The CRA’s mission is to preserve the integrity of Canada’s tax system, and it is taking concrete and effective action to deal with abusive tax schemes. Through federal budget funding in 2016 and 2017, the government has committed close to $1 billion in cracking down on tax evasion and combatting tax avoidance at home and through the use of offshore transactions. This additional funding is expected to generate federal revenues of $2.6 billion over five years for Budget 2016, and $2.5 billion over five years for Budget 2017.

More precisely, the CRA is cracking down on tax cheats by hiring more auditors, maintaining its underground economy specialist teams, increasing coverage of aggressive goods and service tax/harmonized sales tax planning, increasing coverage of multinational corporations and wealthy individuals, and taking targeted actions aimed at promoters of abusive tax schemes.

On the offshore front, the CRA continues to develop tools to improve its focus on high‑risk taxpayers. It is also considering changes to its Voluntary Disclosures Program following the first set of program recommendations received from an independent Offshore Compliance Advisory Committee. In addition, the CRA is leading international projects to address the base erosion and profit shifting initiative of the G20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and is collaborating with treaty partners to address the Panama Papers leaks.

These actions are evidence of the government’s commitment to protecting tax fairness. The CRA has strengthened its intelligence and technical capacities for the early detection of abusive tax arrangements and deterrence of those who participate in them. To ensure compliance, it has increased the number of actions aimed at promoters who use illegal schemes. These measures include increased audits of such promoters, improved information gathering, criminal investigations where warranted, and better communication with taxpayers.

To deter potential taxpayer involvement in these schemes, the CRA is increasing notifications and warnings through its communications products. It also seeks partnerships with tax preparers, accountants, and community groups so that they can become informed observers who can educate their clients.

The CRA will assess penalties against promoters and other representatives who make false statements involving illegal tax schemes. The promotion of tax schemes to defraud the government can lead to criminal investigations, fingerprinting, criminal prosecution, court fines, and jail time.

Between April 1, 2011, and March 31, 2016, the CRA’s criminal investigations resulted in the conviction of 42 Canadian taxpayers for tax evasion with links to money and assets held offshore. In total, the $34 million in evaded taxes resulted in court fines of $12 million and 734 months of jail time.

When deciding to pursue compliance actions through the courts, the CRA consults the Department of Justice Canada to choose an appropriate solution. Complex tax-related litigation is costly and time consuming, and the outcome may be unsuccessful. All options to recover amounts owed are considered.

More specifically, in relation to the KPMG Isle of Man tax avoidance scheme, publicly available court records show that it is through the CRA’s efforts that the scheme was discovered. The CRA identified many of the participants and continues to actively pursue the matter. The CRA has also identified at least 10 additional tax structures on the Isle of Man, and is auditing taxpayers in relation to these structures.

To ensure tax fairness, the CRA commissioned an independent review in March 2016 to determine if it had acted appropriately concerning KPMG and its clients. In her review, Ms. Kimberley Brooks, Associate Professor and former Dean of the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, examined the CRA’s operational processes and decisions in relation to the KPMG offshore tax structure and its efforts to obtain the names of all taxpayers participating in the scheme. Following this review, the report, released on May 5, 2016, concluded that the CRA had acted appropriately in its management of the KPMG Isle of Man file. The report found that the series of compliance measures the CRA took were in accordance with its policies and procedures. It was concluded that the procedural actions taken on the KPMG file were appropriate given the facts of this particular case and were consistent with the treatment of taxpayers in similar situations. The report concluded that actions by CRA employees were in accordance with the CRA’s Code of Integrity and Professional Conduct. There was no evidence of inappropriate interaction between KPMG and the CRA employees involved in the case.

Under the CRA’s Code of Integrity and Professional Conduct, all CRA employees are responsible for real, apparent, or potential conflicts of interests between their current duties and any subsequent employment outside of the CRA or the Public Service of Canada. Consequences and corrective measures play an important role in protecting the CRA’s integrity.

The CRA takes misconduct very seriously. The consequences of misconduct depend on the gravity of the incident and its repercussions on trust both within and outside of the CRA. Misconduct can result in disciplinary measures up to dismissal.

All forms of tax evasion are illegal. The CRA manages the Informant Leads Program, which handles leads received from the public regarding cases of tax evasion across the country. This program, which coordinates all the leads the CRA receives from informants, determines whether there has been any non-compliance with tax law and ensures that the information is examined and conveyed, if applicable, so that compliance measures are taken. This program does not offer any reward for tips received.

The new Offshore Tax Informant Program (OTIP) has also been put in place. The OTIP offers financial compensation to individuals who provide information related to major cases of offshore tax evasion that lead to the collection of tax owing. As of December 31, 2016, the OTIP had received 963 calls and 407 written submissions from possible informants. Over 218 taxpayers are currently under audit based on information the CRA received through the OTIP.

With a focus on the highest-risk sectors nationally and internationally and an increased ability to gather information, the CRA has the means to target taxpayers who try to hide their income. For example, since January 2015, the CRA has been collecting information on all international electronic funds transfers (EFTs) of $10,000 or more ending or originating in Canada. It is also adopting a proactive approach by focusing each year on four jurisdictions that raise suspicion. For the Isle of Man, the CRA audited 3,000 EFTs totalling $860 million over 12 months and involving approximately 800 taxpayers. Based on these audits, the CRA communicated with approximately 350 individuals and 400 corporations and performed 60 audits.

In January 2017, I reaffirmed Canada’s important role as a leader for tax authorities around the world in detecting the structures used for aggressive tax planning and tax evasion. This is why Canada works daily with the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre (JITSIC), a network of tax administrations in over 35 countries. The CRA participates in two expert groups within the JITSIC and leads the working group on intermediaries and proponents. This ongoing collaboration is a key component of the CRA’s work to develop strong relationships with the international community, which will help it refine the world-class tax system that benefits all Canadians.

The CRA is increasing its efforts and is seeing early signs of success. Last year, the CRA recovered just under $13 billion as a result of its audit activities on the domestic and offshore fronts. Two-thirds of these recoveries are the result of its audit efforts relating to large businesses and multinational companies.

But there is still much to do, and additional improvements and investments are underway.

Tax cheats are having a harder and harder time hiding. Taxpayers who choose to promote or participate in malicious and illegal tax strategies must face the consequences of their actions. Canadians expect nothing less. I invite you to read my most recent statement on this matter at canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/2017/03/
statement_from_thehonourabledianelebouthillierministerofnational.

Thank you for taking the time to write. I hope the information I have provided is helpful.

Sincerely,

The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier
Minister of National Revenue



Ottawa forfeited $8.7B in uncollected tax in 2014, says report

CRA 'tax gap' report cautions that much of the billions owed might never be collectable

By Dean Beeby, CBC News Posted: Jun 02, 2017 5:00 AM ET

 
Diane Lebouthillier, minister of national revenue, has released a new report on the 'tax gap,' part of a commitment in the 2015 Liberal election platform. The gap measures what taxes are owed compared with taxes actually paid.
Diane Lebouthillier, minister of national revenue, has released a new report on the 'tax gap,' part of a commitment in the 2015 Liberal election platform. The gap measures what taxes are owed compared with taxes actually paid. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Canada's personal income "tax gap" — taxes due but not collected — hit about $8.7 billion for 2014, says a ground-breaking Canada Revenue Agency report.

The analysis, which the Liberals promised in the 2015 election campaign, includes estimates of tax revenue lost because of unreported income in the domestic underground economy, as well as tax formally assessed against taxpayers who did not pay up for some reason.

The report follows a parallel analysis released June 30 last year by Finance Canada that estimated there was another $4.9 billion in GST/HST that was due in 2014 but not collected, bringing the total "tax gap" so far to about $13.6 billion.

Both analyses were for the domestic economy only, and did not attempt the tricky calculation of tax revenue lost because of offshore tax schemes — a hot-button issue that will get its own CRA report next year.


The latest report, released Friday, is riddled with caveats that warn of incomplete or even non-existent data, and of difficult assumptions. It also cautions that much of the taxes owed might never be collected because of factors such as the bankruptcy of a taxpayer.

Likely an underestimate


Despite those warnings, the 56-page document says the $8.7-billion figure for missing personal-income taxes "is likely an underestimate of the true … tax gap."

Other countries have estimated their own tax gaps, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden and Australia, and each highlight the uncertainty of their own numbers.

Percy Downe
P.E.I. Senator Percy Downe has been pressing the government since at least 2012 to measure the tax gap, as done by other countries such as the U.S. (Steve Bruce/CBC)

In the past the Canada Revenue Agency has resisted producing such estimates for Canada, partly out of concern that any reported gap might be construed as a work target for them to achieve, even though the math is uncertain.

The agency has also declined to carry out random audits of the population of taxpayers because of the expense, preferring to focus on specific sectors of the economy considered more likely to dodge taxes. The absence of random audits creates another analytical hurdle for tax-gap estimations.

'The tax gap is sometimes seen as a measure of tax fraud or similar conduct.' - Internal CRA document, cautioning that the gap can be for other reasons as well

Senator Percy Downe among others has been pressing the CRA for a tax-gap estimation, and in 2012 formally asked the parliamentary budget officer for such a study — partly to derive an estimate of federal revenue lost to overseas tax havens.

The PBO tried without success to get data from the tax agency to carry out the study, information the CRA said would cost $140,000 and six months to produce, say documents obtained by CBC News under the Access to Information Act.

The dispute escalated to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in late 2015. The PBO project was eventually dropped with Downe's agreement, and the CRA announced on April 11, 2016, it would undertake the research itself.

For perspective, Friday's report on the personal income tax gap says the missing $8.7 billion in taxes represents about 6.4 per cent of all personal income tax collected in 2014. The Finance Canada report last June came up with a similar number: the $4.9 billion in uncollected GST/HST in 2014 represents about 6.5 per cent of all GST/HST revenues.

Can be taxpayer error


On Monday, CRA officials will join international tax experts for a two-day seminar in Ottawa, sponsored by the Canadian Tax Foundation, which will examine issues surrounding the measurement of tax gaps. Specialists from the U.S., U.K. and Sweden are expected.

G20/TAXHAVENS
Ugland House is the registered office of some 18,000 companies on Grand Cayman Island, an offshore tax haven. The latest CRA report does not include a calculation of taxes lost because of offshore schemes, saying it will release those calculations next year. (Reuters)

"Broadly defined, the tax gap is the difference between the tax that would be paid if all obligations were fully met in all instances, and the tax actually paid," says an internal CRA document, cautioning that the gap does not necessarily reflect illegal behaviour.

"The tax gap is sometimes seen as a measure of tax fraud or similar conduct. However, it encompasses revenues lost due to both intentional and unintentional behaviour, including tax evasion, taxpayer error, and in some cases unpaid and uncollectable liabilities, such as when a taxpayer is bankrupt."

Follow @DeanBeeby on Twitter

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