Mr. Speaker, with respect to the above noted question, what follows is the response from the CRA. In response to parts (a) through (l), on Sunday October 3, 2021, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, ICIJ, released findings in its investigation which it entitled “Pandora Papers”. On Monday, December 6, 2021, the ICIJ shared the first release of the Pandora Papers data that contained structured data for two of 14 offshore service providers.
The CRA has begun reviewing the ICIJ data that has been released thus far, and is integrating the information in its systems with its existing data. The CRA is currently working to identify all Canadian taxpayers, and will conduct further risk assessments as needed. Following the completion of the risk assessments, the CRA will identify files for audit.
The CRA has organized teams responsible for identifying how to integrate the information leaked through the Pandora Papers with data the CRA already possesses.
As with past leaks, the CRA will need time to validate the reliability of the data as well as the degree of tax non-compliance from a Canadian perspective. It’s important to keep in mind the initial information gathering and data analysis for the Panama Papers took the CRA over three years to complete as many of the initially purported links to Canada did not ultimately point to Canadian taxpayers.
While work has commenced, it would be premature to conduct audits into those with links to the Pandora Papers; therefore, the CRA, cannot answer in the manner requested.
Furthermore, the ICIJ states on its website, “ICIJ is not publishing raw documents or personal information en masse.” For this reason, the CRA is unable to predict the contents or the timeline of future information releases.
In response to part (m), as noted above, the CRA is still in the process of assembling data for future possible audits, and as such it is too early to speculate on referrals to the CRA’s criminal investigations program. Additionally, since the full list has not been made public, it is not possible at this point in time to confirm if a referral regarding an individual or entity on the list has been made.
In order to preserve the integrity of investigations, the CRA does not comment on investigations that it may or may not be undertaking.