Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Blog Archive Blog Archive December 2014 to June 2019

click link to blog posts ....see photos at end ..
since I blogged enough of this issue I see no reason to return to it soon unless prompt!

Blog Archive  December 2014 to June 2019


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Saturday, June 1, 2019

CRA signs secret settlement with wealthy KPMG clients involved in offshore tax scheme


CRA signs secret settlement with wealthy KPMG clients involved in offshore tax scheme

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cra-kmpg-settlement-taxes-1.5154610?fbclid=IwAR0qB8lIKRG3ke4fA60gQgeaPS_UPV-hd5_mpT5xADezSvg-A-0XDPCPh9s



Harvey Cashore · CBC News ·

The Canada Revenue Agency has made an out-of-court settlement with wealthy KPMG clients caught using an offshore tax scheme that it previously said was 'intended to deceive' tax authorities. (Peter Scobie/CBC)
The Canada Revenue Agency has once again made a secret out-of-court settlement with wealthy KPMG clients caught using what the CRA itself had alleged was a "grossly negligent" offshore "sham" set up to avoid detection by tax authorities, CBC's The Fifth Estate and Radio-Canada's Enquête have learned.

This, despite the Liberal government's vow to crack down on high-net-worth taxpayers who used the now-infamous Isle of Man scheme. The scheme orchestrated by accounting giant KPMG enabled clients to dodge tens of millions of dollars in taxes in Canada by making it look as if multimillionaires had given away their fortunes to anonymous overseas shell companies and get their investment income back as tax-free gifts.

KPMG is a global network of accounting and auditing firms headquartered out of the Netherlands and is one of the top firms in Canada.


"Tax cheats can no longer hide," National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier promised in 2017.

Now, Tax Court documents obtained by CBC News/Radio-Canada show two members of the Cooper family in Victoria, as well as the estate of the late patriarch Peter Cooper, reached an out-of-court settlement on May 24 over their involvement in the scheme.

Details of the settlement and even minutes of the meetings discussing it are under wraps. A CBC News/Radio-Canada reporter who showed up to one such meeting this spring left after realizing it was closed to the public.

Journalists discovered references to the final settlement agreement in Tax Court documents only by chance.

CRA cites privacy in keeping settlement details secret

The Canada Revenue Agency says strict privacy provisions of Canadian tax law make it difficult to disclose minutes describing individual taxpayer information.

The Isle of Man tax dodge had been active as far back as 1999 and, according to documents filed in Tax Court by the CRA in 2015, had "intended to deceive" federal regulators.

Still, significant details of the scheme remain a mystery, including the role played by the KPMG's senior executives. With no public trial, those details may continue to remain secret.

Toby Sanger, executive director of the advocacy group Canadians for Tax Fairness, says the CRA should never have agreed to settle the case. 
"I think it's outrageous," he said. "We've had a lot of tough talk and promises from this minister about how they will crack down on tax evasion by the wealthy and corporations, but unfortunately, we've seen no evidence of this so far."

National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier called out tax cheats in 2017 and stated her intention to clamp down on the KPMG scheme. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier said in an email statement to The Fifth Estate/Enquête that while she cannot comment on specific cases, she finds the lack of transparency about settlements brokered by her agency "problematic."

"I have instructed the CRA to review its processes to allow for more transparency with respect to the reasons for which a settlement is reached," she said.

KPMG took 15% cut of taxes dodged

One member of the Cooper family, Marshall Cooper, previously told The Fifth Estate that he was unaware of Canadian tax laws when he emigrated from South Africa in the mid-1990s and that it was KPMG that came up with the offshore tax plan.

Documents show KPMG planned to take a 15 per cent cut of the taxes dodged, including $300,000 from the Cooper family. Internal records show the scheme was marketed across the country, with successful KPMG sales agents and accountants referred to as product "champions." 

Tax court documents obtained by CBC News/Radio-Canada show members of the Cooper family in Victoria reached an out-of-court settlement with CRA. Marshall Cooper, pictured, previously told The Fifth Estate that he was unaware of Canadian tax laws when he emigrated from South Africa in the mid-1990s. (Facebook)
In all, more than 20 wealthy families participated in the offshore scheme.
Two years ago, Lebouthillier issued a news release outlining her intention to clamp down on the KPMG scheme, publicly stating that those involved could even face criminal charges over possible "tax fraud."
"The case of KPMG is before the courts right now, and we continue to pursue action against KPMG," Lebouthillier said in 2017 in an interview with Radio-Canada.
"We will see this to the end as Canadians have asked us to do."
She said at the time that her government took the matter "very seriously." 

"Those who choose to participate in these schemes must face the consequences of their actions," she said in a separate statement.
Yet more than two years after that pledge, participants in the KPMG scheme, namely, members of the Cooper family, were offered a secret out-of-court settlement.

In her statement to The Fifth Estate/Enquête this week, Lebouthillier said the decision to settle was not hers to make and that she had instructed the CRA to review its settlements to "allow for more transparency."

The Isle of Man, pictured, is at the centre of a tax-dodging scheme that, according to documents filed in court by the CRA in 2015, was 'intended to deceive' federal regulators. (CBC)

Minister says 'systemic changes' are coming

To "ensure integrity of our tax system," Lebouthillier said, out-of-court settlements are made by the CRA and the Department of Justice "at arm's length" from the minister and the minister's office.
"Canadians deserve a fair and equitable tax system, and we will continue to make systemic changes within the CRA to make sure that this is the case," she said in her statement this week.
CBC News/Radio-Canada first revealed four years ago that KPMG, one of the largest accounting firms in Canada, with tens of millions in federal contracts, had for years been running a massive offshore tax dodge for wealthy clients it had kept hidden from federal investigators.

The Trudeau government's previous tough talk on the so-called sham had come after a document leaked to The Fifth Estate/Enquête showed the CRA itself had offered a secret "no penalties" amnesty in May 2015 to many of the KPMG clients involved in the scheme.

The CRA offered to have them simply pay the back taxes owed — but with the condition they not tell the public about the offer.

Liberal MPs halted a parliamentary finance committee investigation in 2016 after KPMG argued the investigation could prejudice court cases. Now, it looks like those court cases might never happen. (CBC)
Stung by those revelations, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in 2017 that the government had learned a lesson from the KPMG affair and promised to do a "better job of getting tax avoiders and tax frauders."

Since then, the Liberal government vowed to make sure those kinds of offshore tax dodges were in the past.
In fact, it was concerns over future KPMG court cases that prompted the Liberal-dominated House of Commons finance committee to shut down its own investigation into the embattled accounting firm back in 2016.

Documents had already begun to emerge detailing the extent to which KPMG was helping clients not only dodge taxes but also hide money from potential creditors, including circumventing the Canadian Divorce Act by "protecting" assets from ex-spouses.
Lawyers for KPMG had argued that the ongoing finance committee investigation could prejudice cases before the court.
Several KPMG executives had been named to testify in the spring of 2016, but Liberal MPs voted to shut down the inquiry, arguing that any more testimony and documents should be produced in court and not in Parliament.

Now, it appears that those future court cases cited as a reason for shutting down the investigation might never materialize.
The Fifth Estate and Enquête also later revealed that in June 2016, around the same time the Liberal MPs shut down their investigation, a former senior KPMG executive was appointed to the Liberal Party's national board of directors.

"There is no reason why the finance committee shouldn't restart their hearings," Canadians for Tax Fairness's Sanger said.

Settlements offer 'substantial savings to the public'

Sanger said it all seems like a Liberal "coverup" to close down the KPMG investigation.

Canadians still do not know who were the key people at KPMG involved in running the investigation, for example, how high up it went within the organization, or all the names of the wealthy clients who participated.

Max Weder, the lawyer for the Cooper family, said he "can't comment on the settlement."

Documents show the family paid virtually no tax over a span of eight years — and even obtained federal and provincial tax credits — despite receiving nearly $6 million from an offshore company worth $26 million that KPMG helped set up.

KPMG has always maintained the scheme was legal. The firm's lawyers claimed any money the Coopers received were gifts and therefore non-taxable. Nevertheless, KPMG now says it would not set up this type of offshore structure anymore.
For its part, the CRA said that the settlement was made in accordance with the law and is "supported by the facts of this particular case." The agency also said it "maximized revenue" by making a decision to settle out of court, instead of facing an uncertain ruling in Tax Court.

"There is generally substantial savings to the public and a benefit to the justice system when cases are resolved through a settlement," a CRA spokesperson said in a statement.
Please send confidential tips on this story to Harvey.Cashore@cbc.ca or call 416-526-4704. Follow @harveycashore on Twitter.

About the Author


Harvey Cashore
The Fifth Estate
Harvey Cashore is an investigative reporter with the CBC's weekly investigative program The Fifth Estate.
With files from Frederic Zalac, Kimberly Ivany
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Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Is #BMO back in the Fray? Almost a year since a blog post on #BMO BMO Capital Markets Hires Hon. Scott Brison as Vice-Chair

Bloggers note: Is #BMO back in the Fray? Almost a year since a blog post on BMO. What was the family reason Scott Brison Moved on.....? ? ?
..
BMO Capital Markets Hires Hon. Scott Brison as Vice-Chair, Investment & Corporate Banking  https://newsroom.bmo.com/2019-02-14-BMO-Capital-Markets-Hires-Hon-Scott-Brison-as-Vice-Chair-Investment-Corporate-Banking

How many more Banks are involved with Kinder Morgan and Lavalin at what level...Are these are legitimate questions?


BMO Capital Markets Hires Hon. Scott Brison as Vice-Chair ...


https://newsroom.bmo.com/2019-02-14-BMO-Capital-Markets-Hires-Hon-Scott-Briso...

Feb 14, 2019 - TORONTO, Feb. 14, 2019 /CNW/ - BMO Capital Markets today announced that it has hired the Honourable Scott Brison as Vice-Chair, ...

Former Liberal cabinet minister Scott Brison joins BMO Capital Markets


https://business.financialpost.com › FP Street › News
Feb 14, 2019 - BMO says the longtime politician's tenure in the federal government, his knowledge of global economic issues and private sector experience will be an asset for its capital markets division. Brison will be based in Toronto and his primary responsibilities will include client coverage and business development.
Feb 14, 2019 - TORONTO — The Bank of Montreal has hired former Liberal cabinet minister Scott Brison as its vice-chair of investment and corporate banking.
Feb 14, 2019 - Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO 0.53%) has hired Scott Brison, a former Nova Scotia lawmaker who left Justin Trudeau's cabinet last month after two ...
Feb 14, 2019 - 14, 2019 /CNW/ - BMO Capital Markets today announced that it has hired the Honourable Scott Brison as Vice-Chair, Investment & Corporate ...
Feb 14, 2019 - Toronto-based BMO Capital Markets announced Thursday that it has hired former parliamentarian Scott Brison as vice-chair, investment and ...
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Friday, May 4, 2018

#BMO #TWU The EFC appears at Trinity Western Supreme Court Canada Case


Lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos stood in the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and Christian Higher Education Canada on Dec. 1, 2017, presenting arguments in support of accreditation for TWU’s proposed law school. Polizogopoulos, a partner with Vincent Dagenais Gibson LLP in Ottawa, has worked on several religious freedom cases for The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada in the past. As part of the team of interveners in this landmark TWU case in Canada, Polizogopoulos argued strongly and effectively on that day. You can watch his presentation in this clip. The TWU decision is expected in the coming months.
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Monday, November 27, 2017

Insider Trading and Institutional Ownership History for Morneau Shepell (TSE MSI)

    Insider Trading and Institutional Ownership History for Morneau Shepell (TSE MSI)    https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/TSE/MSI/

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Thursday, November 16, 2017

Sweeping Court order>> Canada Revenue Agency Obtains Broad Court Order for Years of PayPal Data


Tags:
MichaelGeist.ca
The Canada Revenue Agency has obtained a federal court order requiring PayPal to hand over years of transactional information from all business accounts in Canada. The scope of the order is incredibly broad, covering any business account holder who sent or received a payment over a nearly four year period from January 1, 2014 to November 10, 2017. The information to be disclosed includes:
  • The full name of every individual or corporation holding a business account that has a Canadian address;
  • The date of birth of each individual holding a business account;
  • The business name, if applicable;
  • The telephone number(s) of the corporation or individual holding the business account, if available;
  • The full address(es) of the corporation or individual holding the business account;
  • The email address of the corporation or individual holding the business account;
  • The Social Insurance Number and/or Business Number of the corporation or individual holding the Business Account, if available.
  • The total number and value of received transactions for each calendar year between January 1, 2014 and November 10, 2017.
  • The total number and value of sent transactions for each calendar year between January 1, 2014 and November 10, 2017.
PayPal has indicated that it must comply with the order within 45 days from November 10th (the date the order was issued). The order will presumably allow CRA to conduct audits of thousands of small businesses that use PayPal for transactions. The issue has arisen in other jurisdictions. For example, the UK has been working on legislation that would allow for the collection of “bulk” information from Internet companies.
The Canadian order indicates that CRA intends to use the information to “combat the underground economy” and that there is no obligation to demonstrate that there is an existing investigation or audit. In fact, there is not even the need to demonstrate that “a genuine and serious inquiry” exists.  The order also reveals that PayPal objected to the breadth of the order.  It states that the court:
“considered the concerns expressed by PayPal with respect to the proposed Unnamed Persons Requirement, namely that the authorization sought by the Minister would interfere with the privacy of PayPal’s clients and that the Unnamed Persons Requirement is overly broad and unreasonable given the absence of any threshold amount for each transaction targeted by the requirement;”
It rejected those arguments, observing that the expectation of privacy with respect to business records is very low.  It also concluded that PayPal had the relevant information and that it did not file evidence that the order was overbroad or reached a disproportionate number of persons.
Ensuring that tax laws are respected is obviously important, yet many of PayPal’s business account records are presumably not similar to those typically found in larger businesses. Indeed, the business account may be often be closer to individual, identifiable records that might carry a higher level of expectation of privacy. PayPal apparently fought against the order, but having lost, will now be required to hand over a massive trove of financial data dating back years to Canada’s tax authorities without a threshold or other limitations.
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