Countries around the world lose at least US$500 billion in annual tax revenues from international corporate tax avoidance and profit shifting, including through tax havens.
But we now finally have an opportunity to make some real progress on international corporate tax reform, with proposals outlined in a new paper just published by the Independent Commission for International Corporate Tax Reform.
The Senate of Canada unanimously approved a bill that will require the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to annually publish a list of those convicted of tax evasion, with a separate list of international tax cheats, and to also publish a report every three years on Canada's "tax gap": the revenues lost annually to aggressive tax avoidance and evasion.
The Auditor General’s Fall 2018 report on compliance activities by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) confirms what we’ve heard from Canadians and from CRA professionals as well: Canada’s Revenue Agency is more lenient in many ways with international and large businesses and taxpayers with offshore transactions than they are with individual Canadians.
Like many Canadian companies, Cameco uses subsidiaries and related companies in known tax-haven countries to lower their taxes in Canada. This often-used strategy by large corporations is costing Canadians over $10 billion per year.
Media Release
May 31, 2018
Ottawa - Canadians for Tax Fairness identifies priorities that we hope to see in this week’s G7 meetings in order to remove key barriers to sustainable development.
This report explores the extent of corporate Canada’s involvement in known tax havens and provides clear recommendations for a strong government response. It looks at the 60 largest companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Only 4 of the 60 companies listed no subsidiaries in known tax havens.
TORONTO - 90% of Canadians think that the use of tax havens by large corporations to avoid paying taxes is morally wrong, even if it’s legal, according to a new Environics poll for Canadians for Tax Fairness and Leadnow.
The poll also found that 87% of Canadians want the law changed to make tax havens illegal with ⅔ of those strongly supporting legislative action.
The First Ministers will be gathering in Edmonton at the annual meeting of the Council of the Federation on July 17-19, 2017. The issue of who owns our corporations and trusts needs to be a priority on their agenda.
OTTAWA – Proposed changes to the Canada Revenue Agency’s Voluntary Disclosures Program are welcome but they don't go far enough.
Canada has a long history when it comes to tax havens. A lot of CEO "gentlemen's agreements" and political "understandings". Now, the situation is draining billions from our tax revenues. Are Canadians ready to push back?
