The CRA continues its efforts to strengthen tax compliance in Canada.

Following the CRA’s recent announcement of its efforts to crackdown on international tax evasion, the CRA announced the creation of a new Offshore Compliance Advisory Committee. From the CRA’s news release:

… The Offshore Compliance Advisory Committee (OCAC) will be composed of seven independent experts with significant legal, judicial and tax administration experience.

The members will provide input to the Minister and the CRA on additional administrative strategies for offshore compliance to build on the Budget 2016 investment.

The OCAC's first meeting will be in spring, 2016, and its initial areas of focus will include:

  • Strategies to help alleviate and discourage offshore non-compliance;
  • Administrative policies being used by other tax administrations to address this global issue
  • Advice to the CRA in moving forward with its measurement of the tax gap;
  • Additional strategies and practices related to promoters of tax schemes; and
  • Potential ways to improve the CRA's criminal investigation functions.

The OCAC will be chaired by Dr. Colin Campbell. Dr. Campbell is currently Associate Professor of Law at Western University and a published author on tax matters. The Committee's Vice-Chair is Kimberley Brooks, Associate Professor of the Schulich school of Law at Dalhousie University. Ms. Brooks, a member of the Canadian Tax Foundation Board of Governors and a member of the International Fiscal Association, practiced law in Toronto and the United Kingdom.

For more information, visit our Canadian Tax Litigation blog at www.canadiantaxlitigation.com

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