Amherstview Man Fined $25,000 for Tax Evasion

NAPANEE, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 10, 2012) - The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that on May 9, 2012, Joe Pereira, who operates a dry-walling business from his Amherstview home, pleaded guilty to two counts of tax evasion in the Ontario Court of Justice in Napanee. Pereira was sentenced to a three month conditional sentence, a 12-month probation period, and a fine of $25,000 which represents 54% of the federal taxes and goods and services tax (GST) that he attempted to evade.

A CRA investigation revealed that Pereira attempted to evade the taxes by depositing his business income into several different accounts and by not reporting all of the income he earned in 2004 and 2005. Although Pereira reported earning revenue of $567,230 for the two years combined, he failed to report an additional $158,701 earned in those years, thereby attempting to evade $28,971 in federal taxes for tax years 2004 and 2005.

The investigation further revealed that Pereira did not report all of his income on the GST returns that he filed in 2004 and 2005. For the two years, he reported collecting $33,396 in GST however he further collected but failed to remit an additional $17,308 in GST.

The preceding information was obtained from the court records.

When individuals are convicted of income tax and GST evasion, they still must repay the full amount of taxes owing, plus interest and any civil penalties that may be assessed by the CRA. In addition, the court may fine them up to 200% of the taxes evaded and impose a jail term of up to five years.

Taxpayers who have not filed returns for previous years, or who have not reported all of their income, can still voluntarily correct their tax affairs. They may not be penalized or prosecuted if they make a valid disclosure before they become aware of any compliance action being initiated by the CRA against them. These taxpayers may only have to pay the taxes owing, plus interest. More information on the Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) can be found on the CRA's Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/voluntarydisclosures.

Further information on convictions can also be found in the Media Room on the CRA website at www.cra.gc.ca/convictions.