Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), the annual statistics provided in this response are recorded by fiscal year and on a quarterly basis. “Q1” and “Q2” in this response refer to the first two quarters of the 2017-18 fiscal year, up to September 30, 2017.
For this current fiscal year, up to the second quarter, as at September 30, 2017, the CRA has almost 5,800 taxpayers, including businesses, under audit in the programs related to aggressive tax planning, ATP, activities. This includes aggressive tax avoidance, high net worth individuals, and offshore audit activities.
In terms of criminal investigations, the CRA is committed to protecting the tax base by ensuring that cases of tax evasion are investigated and, where appropriate, referred to the Public Prosecution Services of Canada, PPSC, for criminal prosecution. For this current fiscal year, up to the second quarter, as of September 30, 2017, 195 cases were open in criminal investigations.
As with any criminal investigation undertaken by law enforcement bodies, CRA’s criminal investigations can be complex and require months or years to complete. This will be dependent upon the complexity of the case, the number of individuals involved, the availability of information or evidence, cooperation or lack thereof of witnesses or the accused, and the various legal tools that may need to be employed to gather sufficient evidence to establish a case beyond reasonable doubt.
With regard to part (b), the most recent statistics available are those of the number of cases completed or closed over the last two fiscal years, including the first two quarters of the 2017-18 fiscal year, up to September 30, 2017, Q1 and Q2.
In terms of ATP audits, for the period of April 1, 2015, to September 30, 2017, 22,074 files were completed.
With regard to criminal investigations, for the period of April 1, 2015, to September 30, 2017, 280 cases were closed either by the CRA’s criminal investigations program or by the PPSC. This includes files closed at the preliminary investigation and court stage.
With regard to part (c), the CRA does not track this information by income bracket; therefore, the information cannot be provided in the manner requested.