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The people who prepare Canadian tax returns for a living are surprisingly tolerant of tax cheaters and the underground economy, according a survey by the Canada Revenue Agency.

Many think it’s fine to for a business to hide its cash income in order to avoid tax, or for people to conceal capital gains.

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And fewer than half believe that the government does useful work with tax money.

They have told all this to the CRA, which did a survey of public attitudes toward taxes and to the CRA itself. The survey, released under an access-to-information request, is dated 2017.

CRA says tax preparers include both those who work for individuals and those who prepare tax returns for the companies where they work.

• Not quite three out of five (58 per cent) feel it’s serious cheating to be paid in cash and not pay tax on that income. Most of the rest said it’s not serious cheating or is not cheating at all.

• Barely half of them (52 per cent) felt it’s serious cheating to run a charity that gives inflated tax receipts (for instance issuing a $50 receipt for a $20 donation.)