Finance committee  I'd like to be able to say that as a public servant I'd never have any dealings with Crédit Suisse or those types of institutions, so I personally cannot comment about the services they provide. I'm not aware of them.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, indeed we do work extensively with law enforcement agencies and FINTRAC. FINTRAC has a system in place whereby they would send information to the CRA in cases they've noted in which there is possible tax evasion. We also work closely with our colleagues in Finance to get amendments that we need.

Finance committee  As the tax administrator, I would say it is very difficult for us to answer a question like that. My colleagues in FINTRAC and the RCMP would perhaps be in a better position to answer.

Finance committee  Absolutely. In recent years, we have been increasingly relying on that tool to obtain information from financial institutions. I would say that those institutions have been of great help to us until now by giving us the requested information, and that information has allowed us to undertake a number of audits.

Finance committee  There is a difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance. Tax avoidance occurs when the provisions of the law are used, but perhaps in an unintended way. That is why, in 1988, the Department of Finance gave us the authority, through the anti-avoidance rule, to investigate transactions that are not necessarily in keeping with the object and spirit of the law.

Finance committee  Yes, good faith as well as documentary evidence and transactions. With tax evasion, there is a clear and unequivocal intent to commit fraud, i.e., actions are taken to ensure that expected results are achieved.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. The unnamed persons requirement is a tool that is in the Income Tax Act to help obtain information, whether from individuals or third parties. We can recover money from taxpayers who might have funds or information outside of Canada. The classic example would be when we make a request to a financial institution regarding a third party.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is a very good question because it implies a number of—

Finance committee  That is an issue that pits civil law against criminal law, in that tax assessments are based on the balance of evidence. If the government wishes to engage criminal proceedings, it must prove the case beyond any reasonable doubt.

Finance committee  Thank you. Mr. Chair, when we receive a file, we assess the evidence and try to obtain the best possible proof. At one point, we consult with our colleagues at the Department of Justice to ensure that we have the evidence needed to support our case and engage criminal proceedings.

Finance committee  The voluntary disclosure program originated in 1973. It has existed in that form for a long time. We have made changes over the years to the program. As recently as this past year, we looked to make sure that our program continued to meet its objectives. As Madame Ricard pointed out in her opening statement, the numbers of voluntary disclosures have continued to increase in the last few years—not only the disclosures but the amount of money the government collects through the voluntary disclosure program.

Finance committee  The voluntary disclosure program was reviewed this year, as I pointed out, and we feel that it's a very successful program. When someone comes to the CRA, they come on a no name basis, but they have to provide all the information needed. Once we agree to the voluntary disclosure, then the name of the person is given to us and we undertake the examination of the file to ensure that the information we have is correct.

Finance committee  I was going to attempt to answer the first part of your question, Mr. Chair. If I understand the question correctly, it seemed to infer that we were farming out to the outside public the audit workload that the CRA would undertake. To my knowledge, we have never farmed out auditing activities to practitioners.

International Trade committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.