---------- 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