7 Myths about the Taxman

Income tax policy, rules, problems, strategy and software. Property and consumption taxes too.
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AltaRed
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7 Myths about the Taxman

Post by AltaRed »

Not necessarily worthy of its own thread, but given it is tax season, these 7 myths about the taxman courtesy of MoneySense may be worth noting.

Myth 2 "evidence of fraud or misrepresentation of income" may be just a choice of words of the author, but there could be quite a murky differentiation between "misrepresentation" and "misinterpretation".
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ghariton
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Re: 7 Myths about the Taxman

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AltaRed wrote:Myth 2 "evidence of fraud or misrepresentation of income" may be just a choice of words of the author, but there could be quite a murky differentiation between "misrepresentation" and "misinterpretation".
I'm not a tax lawyer, but I believe that misrepresentation is deliberately giving CRA information that you know to be false, e.g. dropping a zero from your capital gain on a stock. By contrast, misinterpretation is putting something down as a capital gain when in fact it is ordinary income and you didn't know any better. Mind you, both can lead to significant penalties -- ignorance of the law is no defence.

I assume that is the same Paul DioGuardi who used to run ads in the Globe and Mail, saying in effects, if you are having tax problems come see me. I'm a tax lawyer and the CRA cannot force me to reveal anything you tell me. By contrast, conversations between you and a tax accountant are not so protected.

I'm told that DioGuardi is right.

If your problems with CRA are the result of a misunderstanding, get a tax accountant and work cooperatively to resolve the issue. On the other hand, if you are skating close to the line and want to defend what may be a controversial position, get a tax lawyer. Of course, the CRA knows this. Their ears definitely perk up when you walk in with a tax lawyer.

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