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Results: 16 - 30 of 210
View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
Federal tax amounts associated with convictions have increased from $12.5 million in 2014-2015 to $45.4 million in 2017-2018.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
I'm going to turn the floor over to the commissioner. He can answer your question.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
As I told you, we've hired 1,300 new auditors and conducted twice as many audits as the Harper government did in the 10 years of its mandate.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
The Canada Revenue Agency is currently conducting audits in more than 1,100 cases and criminal investigations in more than 50 offshore tax evasion cases. Our plan is working, and we're starting to see results.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
I thank my colleague for his important question.
According to my information, the Canada Revenue Agency has identified more than 3,000 foreign entities associated with more than 2,600 owner beneficiaries who have connections with Canada, and it has already audited 80% of them. We have chosen to tighten the rules of the voluntary disclosures program, the VDP, to prohibit access to taxpayers who are named in the Panama Papers or in information leaks.
Under my leadership, we have struck a committee to determine how to tighten the agency's rules in tax evasion cases as well as the rules of the VDP. In the first year of my mandate, we began to review four countries a year under country-to-country agreements. When the agency intervenes with respect to a country, people who have assets in that country no longer have access to the VDP.
So we're doing everything necessary to ensure all taxpayers pay their fair share. I've said this, and I'll repeat it: we've given the agency tools to tighten the vice. I invite people to disclose their information voluntarily before the agency begins looking into what's going on in a particular country as part of the country-to-country exchange of information.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
Pardon me, but I'd don't really understand your question.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes, indeed. I want to remind everyone here that Jean-Pierre Blackburn, a Conservative who was Minister of National Revenue, said that efforts to counter tax evasion were not a priority for the Conservatives when they were in power.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
Mr. Chair, I'd simply like to say this to my colleague Mr. Poilievre: I get up at 4 a.m.; if you had held a meeting at 6 a.m., it would've been a pleasure for me to spend more time with you.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
I have another meeting at that time.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
Hello everyone, and thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee on Finance to discuss the main estimates.
I would also like to thank the agency’s four assistant commissioners who are with me today: Ms. Kami Ramcharan, Mr. Ted Gallivan, Mr. Frank Vermaeten, and Mr. Geoff Trueman.
At the Canada Revenue Agency, putting tools and services into the hands of Canadians, so that they can easily file their taxes and receive the benefits to which they are entitled, is what drives the work we do.
As Minister of National Revenue, I made a commitment to the Prime Minister on behalf of all Canadians to adopt an approach focused on our clients, the Canadian people.
The needs of Canadians and the environment in which the agency operates are constantly changing. That’s why the agency must adapt and improve its services on an ongoing basis. This is true both for people who file electronically and for those who file on paper. Regardless of how Canadians choose to interact with the agency, we have made improvements.
Allow me to list some of the ones that are already benefiting millions of Canadians.
More and more Canadians are filing their taxes online. This year, more than 90% of the approximately 24 million returns Canadians filed were completed online. My Account, the agency’s digital portal, now has more than 7.9 million users.
Enhanced digital services, such as Auto-fill my return and Re-FILE, allow Canadians to file or edit their tax returns online.
You may also have noticed that you can now access your notice of assessment instantly. In fact, the Express Notice of Assessment is now available in certified tax software.
The agency is also simplifying its communications. Indeed, providing Canadians helpful information depends on the use of clear, simple, easy-to-understand language. In 2017, the agency simplified the language it uses in most of its correspondence to Canadians. The Clerk of the Privy Council, in his 25th report on service excellence, commended the agency for this effort.
Responding to the questions of Canadians is also a key service that the agency must absolutely provide by phone. That is why we have an action plan to improve the quality of the services that our call centre agents provide. During the recent tax-filing period, the agency hired additional agents, and more than 3,000 of them were able to answer questions from Canadians.
In addition, we have increased the number of self-serve options to help callers get the information they need more quickly and easily. These improvements and other new measures, such as better training for agents and the implementation of a new telephone platform, will allow more callers to have access to telephone queues, which means fewer lines will be busy.
As I mentioned earlier, it’s also important to continue meeting the needs of Canadians who use traditional methods to file their taxes. This year, we’ve made it easier for those who choose to file on paper to do their taxes by mailing approximately two million forms and guides directly to them.
In addition, people can now make tax payments in person at any of the 6,000 Canada Post outlets. This new in-person payment service makes life easier for taxpayers who live in remote areas and who may not be close to a bank or have easy access to Internet service.
Another new telephone service that was launched this year is File my Return. This service helps Canadians with low or fixed incomes, whose situations remain unchanged from year to year, to file their income tax returns by answering a few questions through an automated phone service. This year, we sent out more than 950,000 invitations to Canadians who may be eligible for this new service.
Lastly, I’d also like to highlight the important work done by volunteers from the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, the CVITP. This program has been around for a long time, helping eligible people who have modest incomes and simple tax situations file their returns. The funding announced in Budget 2018 will allow the program to open more year-round tax preparation clinics, which will help more Canadians access the benefits to which they are entitled.
To conclude, I’d also like to briefly touch on the agency’s recent accomplishments in fighting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. The agency has taken concrete and effective steps to crack down on tax cheats. It has broadened the scope of its tools for improving its risk assessment systems. It can now assess the risks associated with all multinationals every year.
These improvements, as well as those made to other systems, provide the agency with more relevant information to better identify large businesses and individuals who may be participating in aggressive tax avoidance schemes or avoiding tax laws.
Moreover, with the implementation of country-by-country reporting, as of this year, the agency will automatically have access to information from other jurisdictions. As of March 31, 2018, audits of more than 1,112 taxpayers were underway with respect to offshore non-compliance, and the agency was conducting criminal investigations into over 42 tax evasion cases. In 2016–2017, the agency’s efforts resulted in 37 convictions, over 50 years in jail terms, and $10 million in fines imposed by the courts.
And I’m pleased to inform the committee that the fiscal service improvements offered to Canadians will not stop there, because this is an ongoing process. The agency must absolutely ensure that Canadians receive the benefits to which they are entitled. That is my priority. Budget 2018 announced the implementation of a measure to automatically register individuals for the Canada Child Benefit. Accordingly, I am pleased that approximately 300,000 additional low-income workers will receive the benefit.
Let me end by saying that improving service delivery to Canadians will continue to drive our efforts. This will ensure that Canada’s tax system is fair, helpful, and easy to use.
I will now yield the floor to Ms. Ramcharan, who will speak about the main estimates.
Thank you for your attention.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
I thank my colleague for her question.
To begin with, I would say that our government is the one that has decided to invest in fighting tax evasion and tax avoidance. The budgets allocated in 2016, 2017 and 2018 to fight tax avoidance and tax evasion amount to nearly $1 billion. Over the past two years, we’ve been working to create a structure that will allow us to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance.
Auditors are currently being hired. The Canada Revenue Agency is able to assess 100% of large multinationals. I would also like to thank the committee, which recommended tightening the rules regarding the voluntary disclosures program. That is being implemented. Thank you very much for your recommendations.
We have also targeted four countries a year, we work with the OECD, and we have signed more than 60 information disclosure agreements, country by country.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you for your question.
As mentioned in my mandate letter, customer service is a priority for our government. Budget 2018 will allow us to make concrete improvements through investments of more than $200 million in agency services. This considerable amount of money has allowed us to make significant improvements to the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.
I had the opportunity to tour the offices of the Canada Revenue Agency, and everywhere I stopped, I made a point of meeting the volunteers. They mentioned that they had been left to their own devices and had received little support over the years. This has become a priority for me. As we know, volunteers work with the most vulnerable. We will therefore continue to work towards that end and take into account the information provided by volunteers across Canada.
Furthermore, thanks to new investments, we are working to modernize our digital and telephone services. We have restored postal service for seniors. Many people live in the regions and don’t have access to Internet. I think it’s very important to invest in services, contrary to the previous government, which had decided to reduce them.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
As I mentioned earlier, our government is really the one that invested in call centres. I did a tour of Canada Revenue Agency offices across the country. I’ve met with employees over the past two years. When the Auditor General tabled his report to the agency, I wasn’t at all surprised to learn what was going on, because staff had already told us about the outdated system and the absence of investment under the Conservatives.
Implementing a telephone system that meets customer demand and providing training to employees will allow us to deliver the quality services Canadians expect.
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View Diane Lebouthillier Profile
Lib. (QC)
The plan was proposed to the Auditor General when he tabled his report. As I mentioned earlier, we are currently working on a telephone system, which should be in place, as I mentioned earlier, in 2018-2019. We’ve hired new employees and training will be provided.
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Results: 16 - 30 of 210 | Page: 2 of 14

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