It’s all about the Money

Depending on who you talk to you will hear stories about the CRA having motivations to screw people or deliberately be unfair.  While I do not subscribe to this belief, I can tell you that it is always about the money.  If you say blue the CRA will say red.  If you say red the CRA will say blue.  If there is a dollar they will go after it.  Most people believe me, but they still have the “come on, it isn’t really that bad is it?” attitude.  Well here is another story that will not make it into the mainstream.  This information is reproduced directly from CCH who is the publisher of the Income Tax Act.  They report on Tax Court cases and legislative changes.  The excerpt below is copyright by CCH and is from a subscription service which I subscribe to.

Document Excerpt:

Le v. The Queen. Tax Court of Canada (Informal Procedure), October 17, 2012. Neutral Cite: 2012 TCC 349. Court File No.: 2011-3624(IT)I. Favreau, J. Unreported Income – Gross Negligence Penalty – For the 2004 and 2006 taxation years, taxpayer was reassessed for unreported income of $24,643, $5,960 and $31,271, respectively, together with gross negligence penalties. She was involved in a marijuana grow operation from which she and her former spouse pled guilty of related criminal charges. Minister reassessed taxpayer using net worth assessment as she reported little to no income in relevant years but owned a home and had unexplained deposited of $21,407.26 in her bank account in 2005. The reassessments were also issued beyond the normal reassessment period. TCC concluded that taxpayer was properly assessed beyond normal assessment period as she made a false statement or omission knowingly or under circumstances amounting to gross negligence. Further, taxpayer could not demolish Minister’s assumptions regarding unreported income as she failed to explain the large deposit. Appeal dismissed. I.T.A. s. 9, 18, 152(4)(a)(i), 163(2),(3). 

You got it.  They penalized a drug dealer for not reporting income from illicit activity.  They don’t care where you get your money so long as you pay tax on it.  Makes sense since drug dealers use the roads (and apparently the police service too) and amenities that tax dollars fund.  If I could sum all this up in one sentence it would be “It’s not about ethics, we only care about the money”.  Maybe this could be the new CRA motto.