Mr. Speaker, as I said before, these are ongoing issues of investigation, and I cannot comment on that.
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Canada Revenue Agency December 13th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, as I said before, these are ongoing issues of investigation, and I cannot comment on that.
Canada Revenue Agency December 13th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, due to privacy concerns, I cannot comment on the specific employees. However, I can tell the hon. member that we take the safety and security of our employees very seriously, and we will ensure that they are safe at all times.
Questions on the Order Paper December 6th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, insofar as the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, ACOA, is concerned, with regard to the lobster marketing initiative delivered by the agency under the community adjustment fund, CAF, in response to (a), the initiative is still active. In 2009-10, $2,543,612.93 was spent. For 2010-11, $692,148.71 has been spent to date, and an additional $4,054,402.69 will be spent before March 31, 2011.
In response to (b), the benefits from this initiative have gone to the industry. Fishermen have benefited indirectly from the investments. The focus of this initiative is on innovation and technology enhancements, value-added processing improvements, as well as marketing and trade development. The initiative is not designed to provide direct assistance to fishermen, as provided through other federal departments directly responsible for the lobster fishery.
In response to (c), the initiative will contribute to increased exports of lobster products to Asian markets. Four projects aimed at Asian markets, specifically the Chinese market, were funded under ACOA’s CAF lobster marketing initiative. The expected impact of these four projects is to create longer term economic benefits through increased demand for Atlantic Canadian lobster in China and to establish new export markets for Atlantic Canadian lobster.
In response to (d), a total of 15 applications from New Brunswick were received under the initiative, 7 from Prince Edward Island,13 from Nova Scotia, and 1 from Newfoundland and Labrador. One pan-Atlantic application was also received. Of these 37 applications, 27 have so far been approved.
Questions on the Order Paper December 2nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, with respect to the above-noted question, what follows is the response from the Canada Revenue Agency,CRA.
The confidentiality provisions of the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, and the Excise Act, 2001 prevent the CRA from disclosing specific taxpayer information. Therefore, the CRA is not able to provide the information as requested.
Taxation November 24th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, as I indicated, we are working very aggressively on the offshore tax files. Through the measures in budget 2010, we are eliminating tax loopholes and making it harder for Canadians to hide assets offshore.
Since 2006, CRA has audited more than 6,700 cases, identifying approximately $3.7 billion in unpaid taxes through international efforts.
Last year alone, CRA uncovered over $1 billion in unpaid taxes internationally, nearly 10 times the amount uncovered in the last year the Liberals were in power.
Taxation November 24th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and this government have taken decisive action to give CRA the tools and resources needed to aggressively pursue those Canadians who avoid paying their taxes. We are cracking down to recover money owed to hard-working Canadians. The number of full-time employees working on international audits is up 44%, and we have doubled the number of people working in our aggressive tax planning program since the government took office.
Questions on the Order Paper November 15th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the following is the response from the Canada Revenue Agency, CRA, with regard to the voluntary disclosures program, VDP, for the years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Please note that the number of disclosures processed may exceed the number disclosures received for particular fiscal years. This is because disclosures processed refers to the processing activity completed during a particular fiscal year, whereas the disclosures themselves may have been received in a different fiscal year.
For fiscal year 2005-06, the CRA has received 7,629 voluntary disclosures.
The total amounts of income disclosed through the VDP are subject to an examination to validate the proper amount of income to report per disclosure. Therefore, the CRA captures the information following this examination. With respect to the 7,314 voluntary disclosures processed, $651 million in unreported income has been indentified.
As the recovery of funds is an ongoing process, the CRA is not able to provide final figures on the amount recovered for this fiscal year in the manner requested.
For fiscal year 2006-07, the CRA has received 9,011 voluntary disclosures.
The total amounts of income disclosed through the VDP are subject to an examination to validate the proper amount of income to report per disclosure. Therefore, the CRA captures the information following this examination. With respect to the 8,244 processed, $614 million in unreported income has been identified.
As the recovery of funds is an ongoing process, the CRA is not able to provide final figures on the amount recovered for this fiscal year in the manner requested.
For fiscal year 2007-08, the CRA has received 9,137 voluntary disclosures.
The total amounts of income disclosed through the VDP are subject to an examination to validate the proper amount of income to report per disclosure. Therefore, the CRA captures the information following this examination. With respect to the 8,400 processed, $777 million in unreported income has been identified.
As the recovery of funds is an ongoing process, the CRA is not able to provide final figures on the amount recovered for this fiscal year in the manner requested.
For fiscal year 2008-09, the CRA has received 10,639 voluntary disclosures.
The total amounts of income disclosed through the VDP are subject to an examination to validate the proper amount of income to report per disclosure. Therefore, the CRA captures the information following this examination. With respect to the 11,393 processed, $766 million in unreported income has been identified.
As the recovery of funds is an ongoing process, the CRA is not able to provide final figures on the amount recovered for this fiscal year in the manner requested.
Taxation October 25th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, our government is taking very aggressive action to crack down on any moneys being hidden in offshore bank accounts. Just last year, over $1 billion was uncovered in unpaid taxes, nearly 10 times the amount that was uncovered in the last year the Liberals were in power.
In terms of the penalties, I can say that fines, penalties, interest and jail time are all part of the package.
Questions on the Order Paper October 20th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), as of June 15, 2010, it was determined that for calendar year 2009, 72,786 individuals may be in excess contributions, i.e., contributions over $5,000. This represents less than 2% of the 4.8 million Canadians who contributed to a tax-free savings account, TFSA.
In response to (b), at this time, the CRA cannot provide the information in the manner requested as it is still in the process of establishing the amounts owed to the government due to TFSA over contributions in 2009.
Taxation October 20th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, our government is taking aggressive action and over $1 billion was recovered in unpaid taxes. Those unpaid taxes are subject to penalties.