Finance committee  Yes, you are correct.

Finance committee  Exactly. When I started my tax practice, I wrote in my first book that I found it regrettable that there was no way to get access to information in tax havens. So I commend this initiative; it is not perfect, but it is a very, very good start.

Finance committee  Are you asking me if I think the price is too high?

Finance committee  That is because the penalty has to be a light one. You have to give people a carrot in order for them to make a voluntary disclosure. There really is no other way to go about it. Otherwise, you have to put an end to the voluntary disclosure program. But it is still a good questi

Finance committee  No.

Finance committee  Let me say it again just so that it is very clear. First, if I were the Prime Minister, or any head of state on the planet, it would be almost impossible to solve the tax haven problem domestically without working with other countries. Second, I think that the OECD initiative on

Finance committee  Exactly. That is a problem that tax authorities are looking into at the moment. They are trying to find ways to make their auditing methods work in the digital world.

Finance committee  Yes, I do. With the advent of globalization, a whole host of organizations have appeared, dealing with health, with labour matters and with a lot of other areas. That means—

Finance committee  No, that is not what I said. There are two kinds of agreements. First, there are agreements to exchange tax and tax information. Then there are tax conventions that Canada signs. With the OECD, the agreements are about information exchange. What I said, and what I say again to

Finance committee  It is an excellent question. I would also be curious to hear Mr. Owens answer your question. The Internet allows a taxpayer to appear in a million jurisdictions and to disappear in a flash if he wants to. That certainly makes tax evasion easier and administration harder for tax

Finance committee  I am not sure whether the organizations you mention are the same ones I am referring to. I know that steps have been taken. The question of raising some penalties has been discussed. Personally, I would say that, if you choose to increase penalties, you will also have to look at

Finance committee  Yes, certainly, if you want a comprehensive approach, if you want to limit the use of tax havens as a way for individuals to evade taxes, you have at the same time to limit the use of tax havens by multinationals, accepting that they are avoiding taxes, or planning their taxes, i

Finance committee  As far as I am aware, the voluntary disclosures program has stayed essentially the same. I have had occasion to work with situations like that. When Canadian taxpayers have accumulated money in offshore tax havens and they want to bring it back into the country, or when they get

Finance committee  That is a very good question. When we are discussing a situation like that, we have to remember that essentially two kinds of taxpayers use tax havens. There are individuals who are simply trying to avoid paying tax by hiding money in offshore accounts in tax havens. Then there a

Finance committee  In my opinion, if industrialized countries or all countries multilaterally agree on the approach to deal with tax havens, the problem of unfair competition triggered by tax havens could be eliminated almost instantaneously. The problem is that we are at a crossroads right now.