Tax agency goes easy on the wealthy: audit

But it aggressively pursues regular people for small amounts

The tax man goes easy on wealthy Canadians with offshore bank accounts while being harsh on regular taxpayers, according to a damning report made public by the federal auditor general Tuesday.

Wealthy tax cheats are given more time to find receipts and they get their interest and penalties waived, even if they didn’t ask for it.

Meanwhile, if a salaried employee can’t find a receipt, it’s automatically disallowed and they’re reassessed, the report said.

“Most taxpayers are individuals with Canadian employment income. We found that the (Canada Revenue Agency) requested information from these taxpayers more quickly, and gave less time to respond, than it did with other taxpayers, such as international and large businesses, and taxpayers with offshore transactions,” said the report.

Auditor General Michael Ferguson highlighted a double standard that many Canadians have personally experienced, where the CRA aggressively pursues regular people for small amounts of tax owing, while offering amnesty and anonymity for those involved in sophisticated offshore tax schemes.

One example cited in Ferguson’s report demonstrated how the CRA goes easy on big-time tax cheats by forgiving them even after they had been caught.

In the five years from 2013-2018, the CRA accepted voluntary disclosures from 140 people who were already being audited, and waived $17 million they owed in interest and penalties.

The voluntary disclosures program, which encourages tax cheats to come clean by pledging not to prosecute them and offering to waive some or all of their penalties, has since changed its rules to prevent those who are already being audited from taking part.

“Does the CRA have a culture of conveniently ignoring taxevaders who have the means to hire a lawyer?” asked Green Party Leader Elizabeth May in reaction to the report. “The CRA needs to shift its Sheriff of Nottingham approach to tax-collection and have the rich pay their fair share rather than concentrate audits on hardworking Canadians because it’s easier to have them pay.”

In response to the report, Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier pledged to “ensure that our tax system is fair for everyone, throughout Canada.”

Ferguson’s team put together a list of eight recommendations that focused on the lack of consistency in how the CRA applies tax law.

Consistency, the auditors pointed out, is enshrined in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. They nevertheless found wide discrepancies in how people were treated by the CRA depending on their region and activities.