OTTAWA, Dec. 14, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Canada is committed to combatting offshore tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. In addition to strong international partnerships and access to new data sources, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is also benefiting from the expertise provided by the Offshore Compliance Advisory Committee (OCAC).

At today's OCAC meeting, the OCAC's chair, Dr. Colin Campbell, welcomed two new members to the committee - Brigitte Alepin, a renowned Canadian tax practitioner and professor of tax at the Université du Québec à Montréal and Arthur Cockfield, a law professor at Queen's University and respected tax law scholar and policy consultant.

During the meeting, CRA officials provided committee members with background information and progress that has been made to date on the offshore and aggressive tax planning, international and large business, and criminal investigations programs. Discussions were held to define a strategic agenda for the committee that would enable it to focus its expertise on the topics where the CRA would most benefit from its advice and recommendations with a view to future program improvements.

In addition to the historic $1 billion investments the Government of Canada has made in the last three Budgets to adopt better tools and approaches in our compliance activities, the creation of the OCAC further underlines our commitment to ensuring the integrity of the tax system.The OCAC has already provided valuable advice to the CRA which has contributed to important program and policy changes such as the tightening of the Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP) criteria, and the strengthening of the governance around the use of audit agreements. The OCAC also provided the CRA with recommendations on the important topic of gathering and analyzing large amounts of raw tax data and using it as a tool to combat offshore tax non-compliance.

Quotes

"Combatting tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance is a top priority for our government. The OCAC has been an important partner in the CRA's compliance work since its creation in 2016. I want to welcome the newest members and thank all of the Committee members for their hard work and invaluable input. I am confident that the Committee will continue to provide practical advice to the CRA to help ensure our tax system is responsive and fair for all Canadians."

-The Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue

Quick Facts

• The OCAC was created in 2016 with the mandate to advise the Minister of National Revenue and the CRA on strategies to combat offshore tax evasion and aggressive tax planning.
• The members of the Committee are experts with significant legal and tax experience and will serve on the OCAC during its current mandate which has been extended to 2020.
• The role of the members is to consider the administrative measures needed to help protect the tax base and enhance the overall fairness and transparency of the Canadian tax administration.

Associated Links

Offshore Compliance Advisory Committee

Tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance know no borders

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SOURCE Canada Revenue Agency

View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2018/14/c5624.html