Poilievre promises to ‘name and shame’ large companies caught dodging taxes

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OTTAWA — Conservatives are promising to move resources from the Canada Revenue Agency’s small business audits to further target big businesses, which they will “name and shame” when caught “dodging taxes.”

In a video on social media Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre sang a common refrain from federal politicians during an election. He promised a Conservative government would come down hard on “tax cheats,” redirect CRA’s auditing firepower from small to large businesses and recover billions in unpaid taxes.

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“Conservatives will end the double standard so multinational corporations and the ultra rich can’t just ship their money abroad to avoid paying their fair share at home,” Poilievre said.

In the video, Poilievre accused CRA of “harassing and auditing innocent small business owners” and promised to redirect resources from the small and medium enterprise audit branch towards cracking down on “offshore tax havens.”

He said the increased focus on offshore tax evasion would net the government an additional $1 billion in yearly tax revenue. The Liberals also frequently promised additional investments in the CRA would net billions of dollars in additional unpaid taxes from large corporations, though the actual results are unclear.

As part of his plan, Poilievre also said he would create a “name and shame” publication targeting multinational corporations that are caught dodging their taxes. He also promised to boost whistleblower payouts to up to 20 per cent of recovered unpaid taxes.

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“You can’t avoid your taxes, and large corporations shouldn’t be doing so either,” he said.

He also said his government would create a “tax task force” that would rewrite tax rules to make them “fairer, simpler and easier to administer.” He said that same team would be given the monumental task of closing “all” loopholes that allow companies to hide their money in tax havens.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh made a similar announcement days earlier when he promised a review of the Income Tax Act (ITA) to “close loopholes that allow big corporations to avoid paying what they owe.”

Tax law specialists have long argued that a wholesale rewriting of the ITA is long overdue. At 3,000 printed pages spread over two volumes, it is the longest and one of the most complex pieces of Canadian legislation.

But political parties rarely commit to the daunting task because the issue does not speak to many voters.

Poilievre also accused Liberal leader Mark Carney of helping Brookfield Asset Management, which he chaired for four years before entering politics, to “stash” its cash away from the taxman.

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Carney has been heavily criticized for the fact that two Brookfield funds he led were registered in Bermuda, a well-known tax haven.

“Brookfield … chose Bermuda not because of the warm weather. According to KPMG, Bermuda has no income tax, capital gains tax, dividend tax or withholding tax, making it one of the most attractive tax havens in the world,” Poilievre said.

Carney justified the decision by arguing that the funds were registered there to avoid double taxation.

“The important thing … is that the flow through of the funds go to Canadian entities who then pay the taxes appropriately. As opposed to taxes being paid multiple times before they get there,” he said on March 26.

Earlier this week, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said his party would end tax treaties with known offshore havens such as Bermuda.

The CRA has been criticized for dropping the number of audits on large corporations in recent years, though the agency has argued that it’s focused it resources on “big fish” that it suspects are dodging higher amounts of taxes.

National Post, with files from Rahim Mohamed

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cnardi@postmedia.com

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