Within a few months Canadian tax authorities should know the identities of Canadians who've buried an estimated $5-billion in Swiss bank UBS.
So far seven taxpayers are said to have made "voluntary disclosures," paying the overdue taxes plus interest on their holdings to avoid penalties (fines) and prosecution.
When Brian Mulroney was finally forced to come clean on undeclared cash payments he received from Karlheinz Schreiber, Revenue Canada cut him a sweetheart deal, accepting 50-cents on the dollar of what he owed this country. That sparked a lot of anger to which the Canadian Revenue Agency assured taxpayers that such deals are no longer tolerated.
And if the Conservative government is going to allow voluntary disclosure leniency for the UBS account holders there needs to be a clear cut deadline. Once the Swiss hand over names and account particulars tax evasion investigations should be deemed to have been started disqualifying errant taxpayers from applying to be let off lightly.
I know you don't mean to mislead your readers, but your comment that Mulroney only paid 50 cents on the dollar on what he owed is incorrect. In fact, he only paid taxes on half the $225,000. Because we have a progressive tax system that means he paid LESS than half of what he owed. If, for example, the average tax rate on $112,500 was 38% then he would pay $42,750. However, if, for example again, the average tax rate on $225,000 was 43% then he should have paid $96,750. In this example the $42,750 is only 44% of what was actually owed. To keep it really simple, it is entirely accurate to say he paid LESS THAN HALF of what he owed. Sorry for being picky on this, but it is something that drives me crazy ... he paid less than half what he owed.
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