More than four years after the federal government introduced an offshore tax evasion tip line to fight offshore tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, Quebec’s tax authority is following suit by launching a whistleblower program that will offer monetary rewards.
The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled the province’s tax authority can issue demand letters and request the disclosure of financial information from third parties outside the province to determine whether a taxpayer is subject to the province’s tax laws.
An action plan unveiled by Revenue Quebec to improve its dealings with taxpayers after the Quebec ombudsman accused the provincial tax department of becoming more intractable and less respectful is viewed with cautious optimism by business and tax professionals.
Revenue Quebec was ordered to pay $2.4 million, including $1 million in punitive damages, to a Montreal business after the Quebec Court of Appeal found that the provincial fiscal authority abused its powers and acted maliciously and in bad faith.
A blistering report by Quebec ombudsman recently accused Revenue Quebec of becoming more intransigent and less respectful report towards taxpayers, prompting an immediate reaction from the provincial finance minister who ordered the tax department to come up with a “concrete action plan” to remedy the “unacceptable” situation.
A targeted program launched by Revenue Quebec to recover monies from employers and employees in the construction industry recouped nearly $1.2 billion in the past three fiscal years but critics say that the tax authority could recover more monies and curb black market activities more efficiently by introducing a series of easy-to-implement measures.
Quebec’s tax authorities can issue demand letters and request the disclosure of financial information from third parties located outside of the province to determine whether the taxpayer is subject to the province’s tax laws, ruled Quebec Superior Court.
Yacine Agnaou is one of a handful of Canadian lawyers who took on Quebec tax authorities and plead a case so successfully that now others are trying to follow suit. Now Agnaou is immersed in another legal battle against another government department. He is trying to force the federal whistleblower watchdog to investigate his allegations of wrongdoing against the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.
The Tax Court of Canada, in yet another legal blow to Quebec’s tax authorities, chastised Revenue Quebec for expecting business to act as a “taxation police” after it withheld input tax credits from a meat processing company because it ostensibly had not been diligent in its dealings with its suppliers.
A Montreal businessman who was forced to shut down his business after Quebec tax authorities mishandled his case was awarded nearly $4 million, including a staggering $2 million in punitive damages, following a precedent-setting ruling by Quebec Superior Court.
Quebec inches its way towards doctrine of rectification.