In a press conference yesterday, our new Minister of Revenue, Diane Lebouthillier, announced new plans to detect, investigate, and prosecute wealthy tax evaders by:
- Targeting four specific tax havens, including the Isle of Man, which was at the centre of the CRA’s amnesty deal with Canadians who had invested in shell companies through KPMG,
- Going after “high-risk” individuals and corporations by hiring 100 new auditors and investigators, and adding lawyers to its investigation team,
- Using penalties and criminal investigations to target the wealth management funds, accounting firms, and big banks that create and promote “these tax schemes for the wealthy,” and
- Measuring the tax gap - the difference between what the government collects and what it should be collecting - in cooperation with the OECD.
Minister Lebouthillier’s announcements - and a number of other recent wins - came after sustained work by Canadians for Tax Fairness with a major push from the Leadnow community. We've shown that we can push this government to adopt good policies - and support them when they do.
Now there are a couple of key tests on the horizon that will show if they’re serious about evening the playing field: will they charge KPMG for facilitating tax evasion? Will they close the tax loopholes that let corporations funnel billions offshore? We need your help deciding what to do next.