Article content

In a continuing effort to crack down on some wealthy Canadians’ use of offshore vehicles to evade tax and “buy their way out of paying what they owe,” Minister of National Revenue Diane Lebouthillier gave an update last week on the Canada Revenue Agency’s progress to “to identify and curb tax schemes and to bring those who choose to participate in such tactics to justice.”

Lebouthillier highlighted Canada’s participation as a founding member of the Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC) network. JITSIC, consisting today of 36 of the world’s national tax administrations, was originally established in 2004 as the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre to combat cross-border tax avoidance. JITSIC offers a forum to enable its members to actively collaborate and share relevant experience, resources and expertise to tackle common tax compliance issues.