The Trudeau Liberal government's Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) has written off $133 million for a single taxpayer. This only came to light because of a Freedom of Information request. Even then, it was not revealed whether the write off was for a corporation or an individual. Other large write offs raised the total for fiscal 2017-18 to $209 million and $2.7 billion overall. So much for transparency.
Unsurprisingly, we once again see two tax systems - one for the rich and one for the poor.
Sometime in the first six months of 2018, the agency wrote off more than $133 million in taxes owed by one taxpayer. It's not clear whether the recipient of the writeoff was a person or a corporation. The amount was for unspecified excise taxes or excise duties; the CRA has offered no further details. The massive writeoff is cited in a Sept. 14, 2018 internal CRA memo to explain a big jump in the total tax dollars declared uncollectible, compared with the total for the same period a year previous.
"The above total amount submitted for writeoff represents an increase of $209M in comparison to the first submission of the 2017-2018 fiscal year," says the memo, obtained by CBC News under the Access to Information Act. The increase is attributable to a few large writeoffs, including one for $133M."
The federal government applies excise taxes on fuel-inefficient vehicles, automobile air conditioners and some petroleum products. Excise duties, on the other hand, are collected on spirits, wine, beer, tobacco products and now cannabis. Excise taxes and duties in 2017-18 brought $5.9 billion into the federal treasury, mostly from alcohol. ...
The Canada Revenue Agency in 2017-18 wrote off $2.7 billion in taxes owed. That's the largest single-year sum written off by the CRA since the $2.8 billion it abandoned in both 2014-15 and 2013-14. The agency says that writing off a tax debt does not relieve a taxpayer of the obligation to pay — but it does mean no legal action will be taken unless the taxpayer's situation improves.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tax-excise-alcohol-auto-chrysler-wudric...