Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  I don't know off the top of my head.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Every Canadian has the right to have a voluntary disclosure with the Canada Revenue Agency about issues that they want to report on their tax return. They have the opportunity to do it right when they file their tax return, but also after the fact. If there's something that they don't feel comfortable about, they have the right to talk to the CRA under the voluntary disclosure program in Canada.

Finance committee  Yes, we have firms in 155 different countries around the world.

Finance committee  I don't know off the top of my head, but probably.

Finance committee  Let's take Barbados as an example, because I've been to that office on a number of occasions. You would have seen in the press over the last couple of days, I think, talk about tax havens and that Barbados was the number one on the list as far as foreign investment going into Barbados.

Finance committee  I'm not concerned about the outcome for our profession. I know that Canada does have a whistleblower regime in place right now, and other jurisdictions do as well, that's appropriate. I personally believe that 50% would be way too high, frankly.

Finance committee  I think that if you look at that particular issue through the lens that we look through today, no. I think that if you look at that issue through the lens that existed at the time, in 1999, when it was policy and practice for individuals to have monies in a non-resident structure offshore, it was a very different time.

Finance committee  That, with respect, isn't what we do. What we do for the 35,000 tax clients we have is help them comply with the tax law, but we also provide planning. Suppose a successful entrepreneur runs—I don't know—a pet food store, and makes $200,000 a year. If they have that business as an individual, they pay $85,000 worth of tax.

Finance committee  The answer to that is none because at this particular point in time, there hasn't been a determination as to the effectiveness of the planning. The matter is in front of the courts. I believe in our court system, but at this particular point in time, there has been no need for a refund of any fees.

Finance committee  There are two answers to that. The answer is yes, we help out. Every April we go to seniors' homes on a voluntary basis to help them file their tax returns. I think that's critical. Even though our tax system is getting simpler, it is still far too complex, and for the average individual to try to deal with their issues in filing their tax return it's still too complicated.

Finance committee  As soon as an employee joins us, they have to take the one fundamental course, in my humble opinion, and that's on acting with integrity. Everyone gets trained on integrity courses and I've been doing it now.... Every two years you have to redo it, and I've done it quite a few times because I've been with the firm for an awful long time.

Finance committee  Okay. I don't have any data from a Canadian perspective, but I believe, from analysis I've seen in other countries, that it is one of the fundamental issues that governments need to address because it is a significant part of the tax gap, and once it gets rampant, if people don't trust their neighbour to pay the amount of tax they should pay, then the system tends to break down.

Finance committee  At this particular point, the new marginal tax rates are fairly new. Whether it's beer or anything else, I mean, people look to save taxes anywhere they can. This is a personal comment. We must be careful that we are competitive internationally and especially within North America.