Tax loopholes cost Canada billions in lost revenue
Canada used agreements meant to crack down on tax evasion to open up corporate tax loopholes
Under the guise of combating tax evasion, the federal government opened up dozens of tax loopholes that have allowed Canadian corporations to avoid paying tax on $55 billion in international profits over the last five years.
The money is funnelled into offshore tax havens and can be brought back to Canada tax free by multinationals based in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
These offshore manoeuvres translate into billions of dollars in lost tax revenue for Canada, not because companies are cheating, but because they are encouraged to avoid taxes by government policies.
Since getting elected, the Liberal government has promised to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance, spending millions to reinforce the investigative branch of the Canada Revenue Service.
A joint investigation carried out by the Star and the CBC, however, shows that the previous Conservative government helped corporations avoid paying their fair share by turning a crackdown into a loophole, and the new government has done nothing to staunch the bleeding.
No comments:
Post a Comment