Couple fined $186,000 in tax fraud scheme

A Corman Park couple must pay the federal government $185,878 after pleading guilty to claiming false goods and services tax refunds for seven years.

Brian Dale Schmidt and Dawn Lynn Schmidt, both 47, pleaded guilty Thursday in Saskatoon provincial court to filing fraudulent quarterly GST returns in the tax years between 2003 to 2009.

The Schmidts must pay back the Canada Revenue Agency the fraudulently obtained money — $122,836 by Brian Schmidt, and $63,042 by Dawn Schmidt — the CRA said.

“The CRA investigation of this case found that both individuals were involved in the same scheme to file GST returns for business operations that did not exist,” the CRA said. “Neither individual carried on a business operation during the periods in question. The court heard that the couple deliberately defrauded the tax system in order to obtain refunds.”

They must also pay back outstanding taxes, and associated penalties and interest.

The CRA says other tax- payers who have not filed tax returns for previous years or failed to report all of their income can still voluntarily fix those problems without penalty or prosecution. If taxpayers with an outstanding balance make a voluntary disclosure before the CRA takes action against them, they may only have to pay the taxes owing plus interest.