Mark Feldstein & Associates

William Joseph McCarvell, a real estate agent in London, was fined a total of $16,000 after pleading guilty to 16 charges of failing to file personal and corporate tax returns by the required due dates.

McCarvell operated under the name Bill McCarvell Realty Inc. In June 2009, he was fined $8,000 for not filing his 2003 to 2006 personal income tax returns, as well as the 2001 to 2004 corporate returns. He was ordered him to file these eight outstanding returns with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by September 30, 2009.

In November 2009, McCarvell pleaded guilty to not filing his 1999 to 2002 personal tax returns, as well as corporate tax returns for 1999, 2000, 2005 and 2006. He was fined an additional $8,000. A new compliance order required McCarvell to file these additional eight returns by February 1, 2010.

When convicted, in addition to court imposed fines, individuals or corporations are still obligated to file the tax return(s) and pay the full amount of taxes owing, plus interest, as well as any penalties assessed by the CRA.

If you have not filed returns, or have not reported all income, you may qualify for penalty and/or prosecution relief under the CRA’s Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) subject to certain conditions. One condition is that you must apply and make full disclosure before the Agency starts any action or investigation.

For more information on the Voluntary Disclosures Program contact Mark Feldstein & Associates. We specialize in taxation and accounting for Tax Amnesty. We can help.

Mark Feldstein Corporate Taxes, Personal Taxes criminal charges, Tax Evasion

Joseph Cirillo, of Niagara Falls, pled guilty in October 2009 to seven counts of failing to file corporate income tax returns. He was fined $1,000 for each count. A CRA investigation showed that Cirillo failed to file corporate tax returns as the director of Done-Rite Paving Co Ltd and as the director of 1602013 Ontario Inc.

When individuals or corporations are convicted of failing to file tax returns, in addition to any fines imposed by the courts, they are still obligated to file the tax return and pay the full amount of taxes owing, plus interest, as well as any civil penalties that may be assessed by the Canada.

Individuals 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 will not be penalized or prosecuted if they make a full disclosure before the Agency starts any action or investigation against them. These individuals may only have to pay the taxes owing, plus interest.

For information on the Voluntary Disclosures Program contact us and learn how Mark Feldstein & Associates can help you correct your tax affairs.

Mark Feldstein Corporate Taxes criminal charges, Tax Evasion

Julia Blanchard of St. Catharines was sentenced on September 16, 2009 on five counts of failing to file corporate income tax returns and one count of failing to file GST returns. She was fined $1,500 for each count for a total fine of $9,000. Julia Blanchard pleaded guilty to these charges on March 17, 2009.

CRA made several request for the missing tax returns before serving notice demanding that the returns be filed. Failure to comply with the requests resulted in charges being laid. All of the outstanding returns have now been filed. CRA takes delinquent filers very serious. It is always advisable to file all tax returns on time and stay off CRA’s radar.

Mark Feldstein Corporate Taxes, Tax Convictions CRA, criminal charges, Tax Evasion, Unclaimed Income

Walter Pontiero General Contracting Ltd of King City, pleaded guilty on September 17, 2009 of GST evasion. There was a fine levied in the amount of $91,063 in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket. The fine was 100 percent of the taxes evaded.

CRA’s investigation revealed that the company which is a subcontractor to homebuilders, filed GST returns for the periods July 31, 2002 to April 30, 2005, in which the total sales of the business were under reported by over $2.75 million dollars. Therefore, the company understated the GST it collected on sales by $198,238 and it understated its input tax credits by $107,174, resulting in $91,064 GST evaded.

Individuals or companies that have not filed their returns or have not reported all of their income, can apply under the voluntary disclosure program. CRA will not penalize or prosecute them if they make a full disclosure before CRA commences an action. If Mr. Walter Pontiero General Contracting Ltd applied under the VDP program there would be no penalties or prosecution but the taxes would have to be paid along with interest.

Mark Feldstein Corporate Taxes, Tax Convictions criminal charges, Tax Evasion, Unclaimed Income

Nester Raymond Pinga of Newmarket Ontario pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice on 14 charges of failing to file tax returns. He was fined $14,000. When individuals or corporations are convicted of failing to file returns, they still have to file the returns and pay the full of amount of taxes outstanding plus interest and any civil penalties that may be assessed by the Canada Revenue Agency. If Nester Raymond Pinga contacted CRA before CRA commenced an action under the voluntary disclosure program, there would be no penalties or prosecution only interest and taxes would be due.

Mark Feldstein Tax Convictions criminal charges, Tax Evasion, Unclaimed Income

In September 2009, eBay Canada received a court authorized requirement from the Canada Revenue Agency. Ebay must now release the account information and sales data of Canadian eBay members that meet the following conditions:

• Sales of more than $20,000 and at least 24 sales transactions in any of the calendar years 2006, 2007 or 2008, (irrespective of membership in eBay’s PowerSeller program); OR
• Sales of more than $100,000 in any of the calendar years 2006, 2007 and or 2008, regardless of the number of sales transactions.

If the seller meets the above conditions, then the following information will be handed over to CRA:

• full name,
• user id,
• mailing address,
• billing address,
• telephone number,
• fax number,
• email address, and
• the selling prices of the items.

This is the second court order that eBay has received from the Canada Revenue Agency. In November 2008, after lengthy litigation with CRA, eBay was required to hand over the information of members who held PowerSeller status in 2004 and 2005.

CRA announced on July 30, 2009 that they will aggressively audit Ebay sellers commencing September 2009. If CRA has not commenced an audit on an Ebay seller, then they can apply under the voluntary disclosure program to bring their taxes up to date without criminal prosecution or penalties.

If a voluntary disclosure has not been done and CRA commences an audit, there can be severe penalties, prosecution and interest charges. Time is quickly running out for Ebay sellers who have not done a voluntary disclosure to properly reflect their taxes.

In my office we have already commenced doing voluntary disclosures for Ebay sellers. Once a voluntary disclosure is made, the taxpayer has 90 days to amend their returns and properly reflect their Ebay sales. I usually prepare the voluntary disclosure in my first meeting with my clients and send it immediately to CRA. From this point on, the taxpayer is protected from penalties and prosecution. My clients usually will have peace of mind from the moment I send the disclosure to CRA. Most people tell me that they have not been able to sleep at night for years knowing what they were doing was illegal.

Mark Feldstein Corporate Taxes, Personal Taxes, Tax Amnesty CRA, criminal charges, ebay seller, tax penalties, Unclaimed Income