55 thoughts on “Canadian Senator’s husband’s offshore trusts exposed”

1. A couple of links, updating this story, guilty until proven innocent OR trial by journalists:

   http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/04/09/ottawa_threatens_to_use_courts_in_bid_to_get_cbc_tax_evasion_list.html

   http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/09/tax-havens-cbc-ottawa_n_3046973.html?utm_hp_ref=canada

   A comment that I agree with:

   What’s this ‘illegal’ tax evasion crap? No illegality has been proven by anyone.
   The CBC must stand by its refusal to provide anyone but the public, in a transparent way, with its findings. A free from coercion… and unfettered news media is fundamental to our democracy.

2. @Calgary411
   This treasure trove of tax evaders seems almost too good to be true. I wonder if it’s a tempest in a teapot?

3. And, a couple more links on this subject, Forbes and Washington Post:

   http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/04/04/offshore-finance-leak-exposes-millions-stashing-money-maybe-you-too/

   http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/piercing-the-secrecy-of-offshore-tax-havens/2013/04/06/1551806c-7d50-11e2-a044-676856536b40_story.html

   Piercing the secrecy of offshore tax havens

   Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) has been holding hearings and conducting investigations into the offshore world for nearly three decades. In 2010, Congress passed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act requiring that U.S. taxpayers report foreign assets to the government and foreign institutions alert the IRS when Americans open accounts.

   In February, Levin introduced legislation that would permit the Treasury Department to penalize offshore financial institutions that “significantly” impede U.S. tax enforcement and put an end to accounting practices that enable corporations to evade billions in taxes.

   “We can’t afford to lose tens of billions of dollars a year to tax-avoidance schemes,” Levin said. “And many of these schemes involve the shift of U.S. corporate tax revenues earned here in the U.S. to offshore tax havens.”

4. Related links:

   http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/13/time-running-out-to-file-foreign-investments-with-cra/ (Jamie Golombek)

   …the fast-approaching April 30 tax return filing deadline is also the deadline to mail in your Form T1135 to report any foreign investments or face the newly heightened ire of the tax man. If you or your spouse or partner is self-employed, the deadline is extended to June 17.

   Form T1135 is the “Foreign Income Verification Statement” which must be filed annually, by mail, if the total cost of all your foreign investments was over $100,000 at any time during the year. Foreign property includes: foreign bank accounts, foreign real estate other than personal-use real estate such as a vacation property that isn’t rented out, and foreign securities held in both foreign and Canadian non-registered brokerage accounts.

   The penalty for failing to file this form by the April 30 deadline is $25 per day, to a maximum of $2,500. If you knowingly or under circumstances amounting to “gross negligence” fail to file the form, the penalty jumps to $500 for each month the form is not filed, to a maximum of 24 months.
   …
   If you missed filing prior years’ T1135s, you should submit them under the CRA’s Voluntary Disclosure system.

   http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/12/cra-respectfully-requests-offshore-account-names/

   Keep in mind, a significant portion of these “offshore” accounts are simply accounts individuals have opened for the purposes of paying the cable bill at their vacation home, not for tax evasion.

   When the names eventually get released, don’t be disappointed when there is no “eureka” moment. The serious money is too clever to get caught up in this.

   http://opinion.financialpost.com/2013/04/09/terence-corcoran-cbc-tax-haven-story-feeds-its-left-wing-ideology/

5. Just a little addendum to calgary411’s comment regarding T1135. Here’s an article from last year (also by Jamie Golombek) but still timely …
   http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/24/one-small-victory-for-taxpayers/
   It’s nice to know that the Canadian justice system will bend a bit now and then when a saner head sits on the bench.
   “… this Court has held that even strict penalties should not be applied if a taxpayer has taken all reasonable measures to comply with the legislation.”