News Archive

2016-12-13

The Tax Haven List of Shame

A new report out by Oxfam names Bermuda as the world's worst tax haven. Here in Canada, wealthy individuals and corporations have $22.4Billion parked there. Read on to find out which tax haven Canadians use most.

The Facts Behind Canada's Unequal Tax System

Canada's five worst tax loopholes provide 99% of their benefit to the richest half of Canadians and cost the federal government $10.4 billion in 2011. That's the conclusion of an in-depth study of tax expenditures published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

CCPA Senior Economist David Macdonald examined who benefitted from a list of 64 personal income tax expenditures. They ranged widely from the Guaranteed Income Supplement to the Stock Option deduction. He found that 59 of them provide more benefit to the top 50% of income earners than the bottom half, with the largest share going to the richest 10%. Using data from 2011 he found that the cost of those 59 expenditures totalled $100.5 billion.

Canada's Auditor General Dresses Down the CRA

The Auditor General has exposed serious efficiency problems in how the Canada Revenue Agency deals with regular taxpayers. And those problems point straight to a series of cuts over the past decade that have impacted how the CRA serves Canadians and collects revenues.

According to the latest AG report, the CRA takes too long to respond to objections to its income tax decisions – an average of 263 days for individual income tax objections registered between 2011 and 2016 – and uses incomplete and inaccurate methods to evaluate how well objections are handled. AG Michael Ferguson says 65 per cent of the objections he reviewed were eventually resolved either fully or partially in favour of the taxpayer. Those findings suggest more can be done ahead of time to resolve issues prior to objections being filed.

Transparency, Global Standards Key to Tax Dodge Fight

The international tax dodging industry is profiting from anemic international co-operation on tax rules and standards,” says Canadians for Tax Fairness executive director Dennis Howlett. The Panama Papers, Luxembourg Leaks, and other global schemes have exposed large-scale tax evasion and avoidance. Individual governments can make some changes to stop it – but just like fighting international terrorism or environmental degradation – countries are more effective when they work together.