e193dc40   
   XPost: misc.taxes, can.politics   
   From: Canuck57@nospam.com   
      
   Information securty works both ways.  I wonder how many government   
   employees get raises and prototions because they have information at   
   home that might sell and certainly extort.  New age extortion, digital   
   information.  What would a coversation with Mulroney and his cash bribe   
   be worth?  Or perhaps Liberal ad-scam... but all hushed.   
      
   Or perhaps names of special interest types pandering our MPs for   
   handouts and the data associated with it.   
      
   Bet secrecy is becoming big business for sucessful slimy politicians.   
   Bet Obama does not use a standard iPod.  Maybe hack it while he is on   
   the road.   
      
      
   On 20/03/2010 9:14 AM, Alan Baggett wrote:   
   > Tax officials find bonanza of offshore income   
   >   
   > $600-million uncovered as the number of voluntary disclosures soar due   
   > to what one tax lawyer calls government scare tactics   
   >   
   >   
   > by Greg McArthur   
   >  From Friday's Globe and Mail   
   > Published on Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010 11:53PM EDT   
   > Last updated on Friday, Mar. 19, 2010 9:50AM EDT   
   >   
   >   
   > Crunch time for tax filers is still weeks away, but Canada Revenue   
   > Agency can already boast that it has unearthed six times more offshore   
   > income, $600-million, this year than last thanks to a wave of   
   > international whistleblowers and the agency's willingness to piggyback   
   > on a beefed-up campaign in the United States.   
   >   
   > With the end of the fiscal year only a month away, the agency has   
   > announced that it has received 3,600 voluntary disclosures – the   
   > amnesty program that allows taxpayers to report hidden wealth to avoid   
   > prosecution – that detail offshore holdings. In the previous fiscal   
   > year, there were about 1,900 such disclosures, revealing less than   
   > $100-million.   
   >   
   > “The government has been doing a good job of scaring people. There's a   
   > fear factor – people want to be able to sleep at night,” said Robert   
   > Kepes, a Toronto tax lawyer, who explained that he would never have   
   > predicted the number of clients who have inquired this year about how   
   > to file disclosures.   
   >   
   > And the total amount already uncovered through the program will likely   
   > increase considerably, CRA has said. Federal auditors still have about   
   > 800 disclosures to sift through, and approve or disapprove, before the   
   > final tally is in.   
   >   
   >   
   > “ The government has been doing a good job of scaring people. There's   
   > a fear factor – people want to be able to sleep at night. ”   
   > — Toronto tax lawyer Robert Kepes   
   >   
   >   
   > The steep spike in disclosures also comes amid new headlines in   
   > Europe, where yet another bank insider – an IT employee with a Swiss   
   > office of HSBC – has reportedly handed over to the French authorities   
   > information on 24,000 accounts. Back in January, when rumblings of the   
   > HSBC data theft were percolating but the actual number of accounts was   
   > still a mystery, the then Minister of Revenue, Jean-Pierre Blackburn,   
   > announced that France had agreed to hand over information on Canadians   
   > buried in the list. CRA has since confirmed that there are Canadians   
   > on the list, but has refused to disclose how many or if any audits   
   > have been launched.   
   >   
   > In the past year, European countries with strict banking secrecy laws   
   > and low tax rates have suffered repeated blows because of employees   
   > stealing internal records and offering them up to other governments   
   > facing large deficits. The European principality of Liechtenstein,   
   > population 30,000, is still reeling after a tech worker at a division   
   > of one of its largest banks, the LGT Group, sold information on   
   > suspected tax evaders to the German authorities – data that was then   
   > distributed to tax agencies around the world, including Canada.   
   >   
   > The U.S. Department of Justice also contributed to Canada's haul when   
   > it targeted Swiss financial giant UBS. The U.S. investigation into UBS   
   > revealed that Swiss-based bankers, not licensed to conduct business in   
   > the United States, were travelling to large American cities and   
   > helping well-to-do clients store billions of dollars in “undeclared”   
   > accounts. To avoid prosecution, the bank signed an agreement to hand   
   > over the names of thousands of clients – an exchange of information   
   > that has been temporarily held up because of a recent Swiss court   
   > decision.   
   >   
   >   
   > “ We learn from the information that people provide. If it's people   
   > that are avoiding taxes, it can give us information on the schemes   
   > they're using. ”   
   > — CRA spokesperson Caitlin Workman   
   >   
   >   
   > Canada Revenue Agency has said it is in discussions with UBS for   
   > access to the names of its Canadian clients with Swiss accounts, a   
   > group that is estimated to collectively hold at least $5.6-billion in   
   > the vaults of Geneva and Zurich. CRA declined to explain the status of   
   > its ongoing negotiations.   
   >   
   > Caitlin Workman, a spokesperson for CRA, said there is much more to   
   > the agency's voluntary disclosure program than recovering taxes owed.   
   >   
   > “More importantly – it's intelligence,” she said. “We learn from the   
   > information that people provide. If it's people that are avoiding   
   > taxes, it can give us information on the schemes they're using.”   
      
      
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   Politicians don't provide anything, the tax payers do.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)