Read this —
Ronald L. Brekke, 55, helped prepare phony tax forms for nearly 1,000 people, most of them Canadians, claiming more than $763 million in fraudulent refunds … Brekke told clients to cash their fraudulent checks as soon as they received them and take the money back to Canada.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-tax-fraud-20120316,0,4261032.story
— and then ask yourself how big the red flag is that now flies over the word Canada at the IRS.
$14 million … all but impossible to recover.
This is the kind of tax fraud where the Canadian Government would be fully cooperative the IRS in chasing down the persons who reaped the fruits of this fraud. Totally unrelated to the double taxation issues of dual Canadian – US citizens or failures to file FBAR reports.
There is a massive problem with Medicare fraud in the state of Florida involving foreign citizens resident in the US who, when they sense that they are about to apprehended, go back to whereever they came from never to be found again Some are from Cuba who are known to return there.
Canadian government would be — and should be. I agree. If so, and to no effect, that case remains a big wad of irretrievable fraud.
The point is what and how much this episode contributes to negative branding, to conditioning kneejerk thoughts of the shady activities of those northern foreigners.
@usxcanada, Personally I do not think this episode will reflect on Canadians in per se, since in general Canadians have a stellar reputation in the US. Some other countries from which very large numbers of illegals come from have much less stellar reputations.
I think Roger is right about this. I have never heard anyone at “home” criticize Canada. In jest maybe, but there is a serious respect for the fact that we have been allies in the wars, etc. I think we expats have a much worse “reputation.”
Canada could just pass a law making it legal to get fraudulent returns from the IRS. Just as the United States has passed a law making it legal to fleece Canadian residents and citizens.