Article content continued

The Hong Kong newspaper quoted from a provocative slide presentation to B.C. Pacific Region agency staff last month that said the agency is now beefing up its resources to go after tax cheats, and especially the top 500 files of greatest concern in the city’s overheated housing market.

The additional 85 full-time staff on the West Coast will target the “astronauts” as well as speculators who “flip” properties to obtain a quick profit, then fail to pay capital gains tax and sometimes don’t pay the goods and services tax.

Some, according to the presentation, seek to avoid the GST by claiming the house is a “principal residence” and therefore exempt.

The quick sale is justified in a variety of ways, according to the slide presentation, including: “Dad tripped over a crack in the sidewalk in front of the house (bad omen).”

Another excuse for a quick-sell is a negative Feng Shui report — a reference to the ancient Chinese philosophy of harmonizing people with their surrounding environment.

The slide show also presented a photo of a Vancouver mansion that sold for $5.8 million, over a caption saying the new owner had declared income so low he or she was able to claim the federal tax break intended for low-income Canadian workers.

A CRA spokesman issued a statement Thursday saying the agency’s efforts are not targeting specifically foreign buyers.

Photo by Canada Revenue Agency / PNG

“The source of funds for the real estate purchases are not the focus of tax non-compliance,” said Jeffrey Lansing.