Tax Evasion Leads to Fine and House Arrest

• 
  Keith Trussler
  Lawyer

In a November, 2015 decision, the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa sentenced a non-compliant Ottawa taxpayer to a conditional sentence of two years less a day, including 12 months of house arrest, together with a fine of $396,259.00. The sentence resulted from a guilty plea made in connection with one count of income tax evasion.

The taxpayer in question was a political lobbyist who failed to report income totalling $1,366,411.00 over a 5 year period, thereby evading just under $400,000.00 in Federal income taxes. The taxpayer prepared his own returns each year and knew or was wilfully blind to the fact that the income he received was required to be reported on his returns and that tax was payable on this income.

Clearly, a jail term is not only possible but likely in connection with significant tax evasion.

All of the foregoing could be avoided, even for non-compliant taxpayers, by participation in the Voluntary Disclosure Program.

Please contact Ainsley Furlonger, Linda Smits or Keith Trussler for further details.