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Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse.

New Proposals on the Taxation of Private Corporations can result in Double Taxation

Much has been written regarding the proposals released by the Department of Finance on July 18, 2017 to limit income splitting and holding passive investments inside a private corporation.[1]  A third measure, namely, placing limits on the conversion of income to capital gains is aimed at preventing an individual selling shares of a corporation to a non-arm’s length person followed by a sale by the non-arm’s length person to a connected corporation.  The foregoing transaction would result in the individual realizing a capital gain based on the fair market value of the transferred share followed by the tax-free extraction of corporate surplus of the transferred corporation.  This is considered an inappropriate conversion of what would otherwise be a payment of dividend income into a capital gain.  The difference in tax rates is about 14%.

Read more at Taxed International

New Canadian Tax Legislation Could Be Hugely Damaging to Small Businesses

A set of proposed tax code changes in Canada could potentially have a negative impact on small businesses north of the border. And even though U.S. businesses might not see any immediate impact due to these changes, the impact on partners, clients and others in Canada could eventually make a difference to U.S. businesses as well.

The legislation, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is meant to help the middle class and inject more fairness into the country’s tax structure by closing loopholes used by wealthy business owners. But a growing number of small business owners, even those who could be considered middle class, are voicing their disapproval of the changes.

Read more at Small Business Trends

Convicted of being subject to approximate $2.9 million in false tax claims

Chander Mohan Sharma has been found guilty of one count of defrauding the Canada Revenue Agency for an amount of more than $5000.

According to the “Toronto Sun”, this is for approximately $ 2.9 million in false claims that the individual has been found liable.

During the trial of Sharma, it has been said that the irregularities were as a result of depriving the government of Canada of approximately $600,000.

Read more at Sherbrooke Times

Small business owners angry about proposed Liberal tax changes

OTTAWA – Liberal backbenchers have been getting an earful this summer from small business owners outraged by the Trudeau government’s proposals to end what it calls “unfair tax advantages.”

And now they’re preparing to unleash the concerns of their constituents – and pressure Finance Minister Bill Morneau to adjust his plans accordingly – during the government’s summer caucus retreat next week in Kelowna, B.C.

Read more at Global News

EQAO Results Show $60-Million Strategy Hasn’t Made Ontario Students Any Better At Math

TORONTO — Math test scores among public elementary school students in Ontario have not improved — in some cases they have decreased slightly — despite a $60-million “renewed math strategy” the government had hoped would help solve the problem.

The latest results of the province’s standardized tests — conducted by the Education Quality and Accountability Office — show that only half of Grade 6 students met the provincial standard in math, unchanged from the previous year. In 2013, about 57 per cent of Grade 6 students met the standard.

Read more at Huffington Post

Average Canadians pay 42.5 per cent of their income in taxes: report

Canadians pay a whopping 42.5 per cent of their income in taxes, according to a new report by the Fraser Institute.

An average family with an income of about $83,000 paid roughly $35,000 in taxes last year, the Vancouver, B.C.-based think-tank calculated. That overall tax bill accounts for federal, provincial and local taxes, including income, payroll, sales and property taxes.

By comparison, a typical Canadian household used only 37 per cent of its income on basic necessities, according to the report. Spending on housing (including rent and mortgage payments), food and clothing amounted to $31,000 for the typical family.

Read more at Global News

How Canadians can protect themselves from payment fraud

Fraud is an endemic problem for Canadian businesses and consumers alike. Criminals are using every trick at their disposal to siphon cash from Canadian consumers and businesses alike. What kinds of payments fraud do criminals carry out, and how can we prevent it?

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, a joint venture between the RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police and the Competition Bureau registered more than 10,000 mass marketing fraud complaints in the first half of 2017. They cost Canadians more than $38 million. ID theft cost another $5.5 million and affected more than 16,000 Canadians, CAFC said. The Centre estimates that these statistics, reported to it directly by Canadians, represent only around five per cent of actual fraud losses.

Read more at financialpost.com

Jeremy (Jay) Peers sentenced to 3.5 years for fraud, misrepresentations

Jeremy (Jay) Peers has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud, misrepresentations, and dealing and advising in securities without registration under the Alberta Securities Act.

Alberta provincial court Judge Fred Day called Peers “a con man,” as he delivered his sentence in an Alberta courtroom.

Peers, the grandson of early Edmonton mayor and coal baron Harry Marshall Erskine Evans, was the key player behind one of the biggest, most complex securities frauds in recent Alberta history.

read more at canadianfraudnews.com

Massive U.K.-based scheme aimed to swindle $52M in tax refunds from Canadian government

Websites for fraudulent telecommunications service providers based in the U.K. managed to squeeze $4.7 million out of federal coffers over five years before investigators with the Canada Revenue Agency caught on to the scheme.

The proceeds were put into Canadian banks, then transferred to offshore accounts or used in real estate transactions.

read more at canadianfraudnews.com