Real estate agent fined for tax evasion

Awell- known local real estate agent has been ordered to pay back more than $53,000 to the government for income tax evasion.

David Norris of Re/Max was sentenced Tuesday in provincial court after he pleaded guilty to two taxrelated charges for evaded paying taxes in 2009 and 2010 and that he falsified GST/HST claims — a violation of the Income Tax Act and Excise Act.

The 51-year-old wasn’t in court, but was represented by his lawyer James Smyth.

Smyth and Crown prosecutor Bill Howse agreed to recommend the fine, totalling $53,916.79 as Norris’s sentence. He will make $898.61 monthly payments for five years.

According to the facts of the case , Norris — a real estate agent for more than 30 years — claimed input tax credits (ITCs) without the existence of supporting documentation.

He also claimed ITCs on personal expenses on his GST/HST returns. Such personal expenses included tobacco products, clothing, personal travel, musical instruments and personal retail items, such as cell phones.

Norris also evaded payments when he over-claimed expenses on his T1 income tax returns. He tried to claim business expenses from receipts that did not belong to him. He also claimed personal expenses that were not business expenses on his T1 income tax returns, including flowers, movie rentals and family vocational training.