Backup Needed for Finance Committee Hearing on Tax Havens

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Mr. James Rajotte, M.P., Chair of the House of Commons Finance Committee

Dear Mr. Rajotte:

I am very pleased that the House of Commons Finance Committee has agreed to do a study of tax evasion and the use of tax havens. 
I am concerned that billions of Canadian tax dollars are sitting in tax havens and not being put to good use.
 
According to Statistics Canada, nearly a quarter of Canadian overseas investment dollars ends up in tax havens. One of the main reasons why Canadian corporations and wealthy individuals put their money in tax havens is to avoid paying taxes.

We need to bring these Canadian tax dollars home so that they can be put to good use funding health and education, protecting the environment and providing much needed social programs. If we did a better job of collecting taxes on money parked in tax havens, we could reduce the deficit and avoid painful cuts to public service jobs and social programs.

The first step in tackling tax havens is to get a better fix on how many Canadian tax dollars are being lost to tax havens. I urge your Committee  to publish an official estimate of how much revenue is being lost to tax evasion. The US, UK, Italy, and the European Union have published such estimates. Getting a better fix on how big the problem is would help to push policy makers to give this issue the attention it deserves and spur government action.

While tackling tax havens will require international cooperation, there are things Canada can do now, such as increasing the capacity of the Canada Revenue Agency so they can do more to catch tax cheats using tax havens.

I hope the Finance Committee will make some strong recommendations for action to tackle tax havens and that the government will listen.

I am copying this message to my Member of Parliament and the Vice-Chairs of the Finance Committee so that they are aware of my concerns and can follow up with their own inquiries.

Thank you,

Copies to:

Ms. Peggy Nash, MP, Vice-chair, House of Commons Finance Committee
Hon. Scott Brison, MP, Vice-chair, House of Commons Finance Committee
My M.P.

Peggy Nash

Scott Brison

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