Charlottetown Senator Percy Downe’s bill requiring the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to report on all convictions for overseas tax evasion has passed second reading in the Senate and is currently before the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance.
The proposed amendment also calls for the CRA to report to Parliament annually on the “tax gap” (the difference between what tax revenue the CRA is owed and what it actually collects).
Downe will be appearing before the Committee on Wednesday, Sept. 19, to discuss his Senate Public Bill S-243, An Act to amend the Canada Revenue Agency Act, also known as the Fairness for All Canadian Taxpayers Act.
“It’s good to see this Bill moving forward” said Downe. “I look forward to discussing it at the National Finance Committee, as well as hearing the views of witnesses.”
If this Bill is passed, Canada would join a growing list of countries that publish estimates of their respective tax gaps, among them the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and others. It would also require the CRA to co-operate with the parliamentary budget officer in his own independent study of the tax gap.
