Proprietors Filing Deadline Approaches; Tax Fraud Cases Announced

The June 15 Tax Filing Deadline is fast approaching for proprietors. Those who fail to file their 2008 tax returns by midnight June 15 face a late filing penalty as well as interest dating back to May 1.

Recently CRA has announced a number of convictions for those who fail to comply with their requirements to report and pay taxes, including a Manitoba-based tax preparer who is going to jail for failing to report a half million dollars in income, an Alberta based plumber who was fined for failure to report $200,000 in income, and an Ontario businessman who was fined over $1 Million for failure to report $2.4 Million in income. (Both penalties and interest, as well as the taxes must be paid in those cases).

Nationwide convictions can be reviewed on the CRA site: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/nwsrm/cnvctns/menu-eng.html

Canadians can avoid penalties and jail by making voluntary disclosures ó that is filing missed tax returns or reported missed income or correcting overstated deductions and credits ó on a voluntary basis.