QUESTION PERIOD — National Revenue
Overseas Tax Evasion
June 4, 2019
Honourable senators, my question for the government leader today concerns tax evasion, an issue that I have raised previously in Question Period.
Last week, the CBC reported that the Canada Revenue Agency recently made a secret out-of-court settlement with KPMG clients involved in tax avoidance by setting up shell companies on the Isle of Man.
Two years ago, the Minister of National Revenue indicated that there could be criminal charges related to this tax avoidance scheme. Instead, it has been reported that CRA offered this out-of-court settlement to the KPMG clients and Canadians have been told that no further information can be provided on the details of the settlement.
Leader, is this an acceptable outcome for your government, a tax evasion settlement brokered in secret, with a complete absence of transparency for law-abiding Canadian taxpayers?
Again, I thank the honourable senator for his question and, indeed, for his and other senators’ ongoing interest in this. He will know that CRA has completed, I’m told, twice as many audits in 3 years than in the previous 10 years of its work, that the CRA has opened over 50 criminal investigations into tax evasion, and that the investments this government has presented in its budget, which I note have been opposed by the honourable senator opposite, have been over $1 billion to ensure enhanced capacity to deal with tax evasion.
With respect to the specific question regarding the report by the CBC, I will take it under advisement and report back.
