From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Canada Revenue Agency writes off billions in 'uncollectible' tax debts : CRA   
   SOTW   
      
   Canada Revenue Agency has written off at least $4 billion in debts in the last   
   two years -- including accounts worth more than $10 million, newly released   
   records show   
      
   By:Jim Bronskill The Canadian Press, Published on Mon Jul 13 2015   
      
   OTTAWA--The federal revenue agency has written off at least $4 billion in   
   debts in the last two years -- including accounts worth more than $10 million,   
   newly released records show.   
      
   Debts were declared uncollectible because those owing had died, gone bankrupt,   
   could not be located or lived outside Canada, according to Canada Revenue   
   Agency records obtained under the Access to Information Act.   
      
   In other cases, officials considered it not worth the expense to track down   
   the money owing, or they reached a compromise settlement with the debtor.   
      
   The revenue agency says it makes every effort to collect all tax debts from   
   those who do not pay voluntarily.   
      
   Murray Rankin, the NDP's deputy revenue critic, questioned whether the   
   government is doing enough to collect the substantial sums owed to the federal   
   treasury.   
      
   "They are not going after international tax debt the way they should be,"   
   Rankin said in an interview after reviewing the documents.   
      
   The outstanding balance in undisputed, unpaid taxes was $29 billion as of   
   March 31, 2012, the federal auditor general reported in a 2013 examination of   
   the issue.   
      
   According to the latest federal public accounts, the Canada Revenue Agency   
   wrote off $3.4 billion in debts in 2013-14, representing the lion's share of   
   $3.7 billion in total federal write-offs.   
      
   The newly disclosed revenue agency records do not align neatly with fiscal   
   years, but span the period from Jan. 12, 2013, through Oct. 10, 2014, when   
   just over $4 billion was written off.   
      
   Names and other identifying information have been stripped from the records   
   for privacy reasons. However, they provide insight into the scope, nature and   
   frequency of the revenue agency's decisions.   
   A January 2015 memo to revenue commissioner Andrew Treusch covered just one   
   segment of the write-offs during the 2014-15 fiscal year, involving 700   
   accounts totalling more than $306 million.   
      
   Magali Deussing, a federal revenue agency spokeswoman, declined to make anyone   
   available for an interview about the figures.   
      
   A decision on whether an account is uncollectible and can be written off is   
   based on rules set out in the Financial Administration Act and other   
   legislative authorities such as the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Deussing   
   said in an emailed statement.   
      
   Under the law, an account may be submitted for write-off only if "there is no   
   reasonable prospect of recovery," she said.   
      
   The heavily censored revenue agency records say the department's Uncollectible   
   Debts Committee examined all relevant documents in coming to their decisions.   
      
   The records indicate that between July and October last year, there appeared   
   to be at least two cases in which the write-offs exceeded $10 million apiece.   
      
   The emphasis a government places on debt collection is "all about political   
   priorities," Rankin said. "Are they going after them as aggressively as they   
   might in other countries?"   
      
   Allowing debtors that owe more than $10 million off the hook with "a stroke of   
   the pen appears to be disturbing," he added.   
      
   Concerns surrounding international tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance   
   using offshore accounts are not exclusive to Canada -- they are worldwide   
   problems, Deussing said.   
      
   The government's latest budget included additional monies to address tax   
   avoidance by large organizations as well as offshore non-compliance, she noted.   
      
   When a debt is declared a write-off, it does not eliminate the taxpayer's   
   obligation to pay, Deussing added.   
   The revenue agency "has the right to collect the debt in the future, if and   
   when the taxpayer is located or the taxpayer's financial situation improves."   
      
      
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