Category: Tax Evasion & Avoidance

Income tax and rising inequality

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In the 1960’s, tax expert Kenneth Carter headed a Royal Commission that examined Canada’s income tax system. Among many other things, Carter’s group was asked to report on “changes that may be made to achieve greater clarity, simplicity and effectiveness in the tax laws and their administration.” When material changes were implemented in the Income Tax Act, I was a young person working in public accounting. We laughed at the idea that government and its consultants — typically lawyers and accountants — aimed to simplify tax laws. After changes made following the Carter Commission, many taxpayers needed professional accountants more than they ever did.

Immense tax gap losses

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The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), an organization that represents about 12,000 tax professionals at Canada Revenue Agency says it clearly: “Wealthy corporations and the ultra-rich don’t pay their fair share.”

Dollars in paradise

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There was also something bigger, and even more disturbing: a domain of libertarian fantasy made real, in which professional intervention made it possible for the world’s wealthiest people to be free not only of tax obligations but of any laws they found inconvenient.

Hidden billions, missing millions

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In 2016, an unnamed whistleblower provided Munich daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung with encrypted internal documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that sold anonymous offshore companies. These entities enabled owners to hide wealth, engage in illegal financial transactions and evade income taxes…