The Canada Revenue Agency recently posted a release which should serve as a cautionary tax-related tale for the industry.
A couple of weeks ago, Vaughan, Ont.-based contractor Gilles Larocque wound up pleading guilty to tax evasion and was fined $301,125.
Apparently, he used a few different aliases and business names, charging clients for HST, and was using that money for his personal expenses. The release states that Larocque failed to report income taxes in 2013 and 2014 (for which he owed a total of $180,401 in federal taxes) and he also failed to file his HST returns (which totalled $120,724 in unremitted taxes).
The CRA stated that “Wilfully failing to follow tax laws could result in serious consequences, including reassessments, the imposition of civil penalties and criminal tax investigations and prosecutions resulting in the imposition of court fines, jail time and a criminal record.”
So, unless you look good in orange (no one does, incidentally), you’ll consider what may happen when you tinker with your taxes in a way the CRA doesn’t approve of.
Hey, Contractor Nation: Have you ever had an issue with the CRA? What happened, and how was it resolved?
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