Federal Government & Politics II

[P'tit Renard]

It's shocking that CRA headcount at 60K is now >3x as much as the Australian Tax office. What makes Canada's tax system so exceptional relative to the Aussies that allows Canada to justify such an overbloated taxation office? The CRA is one of many federal agencies ripe for PP to start slashing headcount, just to bring the bureaucracy back in line with our Anglosphere peers.

Even back in 2022 the numbers were already way out of whack:


https://www.canadianaffairs.news/202...main-constant/

"The more analogous institution to the CRA, Psiachos says, is Australia’s federal tax bureaucracy, the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Since 2013, the ATO has employed roughly 20,000 people, with 20,400 employees as of 2022. That means that Australia had one tax employee for every 1,300 people in 2022, roughly half the number of employees per capita as Canada.

Australia is a better comparison to Canada, Psiachos notes, because both countries have a national corporate, personal and sales tax, whereas the US does not have a national sales tax. Australia and Canada’s corporate tax regimes and enforcement are also similar, as both countries are homes to branch or subsidiary offices of multinational corporations."

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

It's shocking that CRA headcount at 60K is now >3x as much as the Australian Tax office. What makes Canada's tax system so exceptional relative to the Aussies that allows Canada to justify such an overbloated taxation office? The CRA is one of many federal agencies ripe for PP to start slashing headcount, just to bring the bureaucracy back in line with our Anglosphere peers.

"The more analogous institution to the CRA, Psiachos says, is Australia’s federal tax bureaucracy, the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Since 2013, the ATO has employed roughly 20,000 people, with 20,400 employees as of 2022. That means that Australia had one tax employee for every 1,300 people in 2022, roughly half the number of employees per capita as Canada.

Australia is a better comparison to Canada, Psiachos notes, because both countries have a national corporate, personal and sales tax, whereas the US does not have a national sales tax. Australia and Canada’s corporate tax regimes and enforcement are also similar, as both countries are homes to branch or subsidiary offices of multinational corporations."

I think bloat is clear and especially at CRA but international and per capita comparisons are tricky. We can't have a GST rebate. CCB based on income, TFSA, Home Buyers Account etc. etc. without people managing the policy and application as well as monitoring, auditing of said programs.
Now should be cut taxes, streamline programs? Sure but that has to be done if we make large cuts to CRA or the system collapses. It's already hard to get good information about CRA and timely decisions.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

I think bloat is clear and especially at CRA but international and per capita comparisons are tricky. We can't have a GST rebate. CCB based on income, TFSA, Home Buyers Account etc. etc. without people managing the policy and application as well as monitoring, auditing of said programs.
Now should be cut taxes, streamline programs? Sure but that has to be done if we make large cuts to CRA or the system collapses. It's already hard to get good information about CRA and timely decisions.

Does Australia have zero programs like those?

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by jonny24

Does Australia have zero programs like those?

Zero? probably not. Less? most likely.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

It's shocking that CRA headcount at 60K is now >3x as much as the Australian Tax office. What makes Canada's tax system so exceptional relative to the Aussies that allows Canada to justify such an overbloated taxation office? The CRA is one of many federal agencies ripe for PP to start slashing headcount, just to bring the bureaucracy back in line with our Anglosphere peers.

Even back in 2022 the numbers were already way out of whack:


https://www.canadianaffairs.news/202...main-constant/

"The more analogous institution to the CRA, Psiachos says, is Australia’s federal tax bureaucracy, the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Since 2013, the ATO has employed roughly 20,000 people, with 20,400 employees as of 2022. That means that Australia had one tax employee for every 1,300 people in 2022, roughly half the number of employees per capita as Canada.

Australia is a better comparison to Canada, Psiachos notes, because both countries have a national corporate, personal and sales tax, whereas the US does not have a national sales tax. Australia and Canada’s corporate tax regimes and enforcement are also similar, as both countries are homes to branch or subsidiary offices of multinational corporations."

Given the amount of outright money laundering and tax evasion we have I'm okay with the CRA increasing staff to sleuth it out. Of course if we had a responsible immigration system a lot of it would have been headed off at the pass.

Canada Revenue Agency gets more teeth to catch potential tax cheats
CRA will get more information about crypto transactions in Canada
Elizabeth Thompson · CBC News · Posted: Apr 17, 2024

The federal government is cracking down on potential tax cheats by introducing new measures to track cryptocurrency transactions and giving the Canada Revenue Agency more teeth to penalize taxpayers who refuse to disclose information it wants.

The budget tabled Tuesday also includes provisions to hold tax planners who help clients engage in tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance as well as shed more light on donations to certain foreign charities registered in Canada and how that money was used.

In recent years, the CRA has come under fire for its track record in catching and prosecuting tax cheats. While the agency has successfully prosecuted small cases, critics say it hasn't done enough to catch larger cases of tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bud...tion-1.7175780

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Zero? probably not. Less? most likely.

Much less yes. They also have their Service Canada equivalent answer questions about the benefits they do have.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Of course if we had a responsible immigration system a lot of it would have been headed off at the pass.

Do you have stats on the citizenships of people convicted of tax evasion and money laundering?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Do you have stats on the citizenships of people convicted of tax evasion and money laundering?

Convicted? Given Canada's pathetic record of enforcement probably none. it should be no surprise that TD's recent trip to the woodshed was due to American money laundering enforcement, not Canadian. God knows what examining their Canadian operations closely would find.

How TD Bank got caught up in the global drug war, helping to launder hundreds of millions of dollars
TIM KILADZE
RITA TRICHUR
JAMES BRADSHAWINSTITUTIONAL INVESTING REPORTER
PUBLISHED MAY 3, 2024

In January, 2021, American law enforcement agencies surveilled a suspicious box truck and a Lexus SUV through the streets of Queens, N.Y. Their hunch was that a criminal ring was out to launder drug money.

Starting in a supermarket parking lot, a man and a woman got in the truck carrying three bags, then they drove to a bank parking lot where an Lexus SUV pulled up. Bags were exchanged between the vehicles, and the box truck left.

Shortly afterward, the woman, Yunqin Liu, took a bag from the SUV and walked into the bank, where she made a large cash deposit. Then she drove to another branch of the same bank and did it again. And then deposited even more at yet another branch.

Four months later, the U.S. authorities charged six people with money laundering, which resulted in the lead defendant, David Sze, pleading guilty. Throughout the proceedings, the authorities never named the Queens bank, merely referring to it as FI-1. But on Thursday The Globe and Mail reported that the financial institution is Toronto-Dominion Bank TD-T +0.28%increase
, and the revelation shed light on a years-long investigation that has haunted Canada’s second-largest lender.

“I regret that there were serious instances where the Bank’s AML program fell short and did not effectively monitor, detect, report or respond,” TD’s chief executive officer Bharat Masrani said in a statement Friday. “This is unacceptable and not in line with our values.”

Although TD is not the only financial institution tied to the money laundering operation, the sum of money involved is stunning. U.S. authorities believe the criminal ring conducted more than US$2-million worth of transactions on that single day in January, and that it laundered US$653-million between 2016 and 2021....

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...ng-to-launder/

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Convicted? Given Canada's pathetic record of enforcement probably none.

Okay, how about charged? Do you have any stats on the citizenship of those charged with tax evasion and money laundering? Or are you just resorting to xenophobic "it's all the immigrants fault" type of argument?

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Okay, how about charged? Do you have any stats on the citizenship of those charged with tax evasion and money laundering? Or are you just resorting to xenophobic "it's all the immigrants fault" type of argument?

Tax evasion maybe especially if we only look at domestic income tax evasion.

Money laundering is obviously a 10x or 100x bigger problem depending on how you define it. In Canada the elllicit economy is probably equally spread between immigrants and non immigrants but only law abiding immigrants have millions of dollars earned overseas they need to launder. I guess the odd 2nd or 3rd generation immigrant but the point remains the same.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Much less yes. They also have their Service Canada equivalent answer questions about the benefits they do have.

There it is called Services Australia and it deals with many government benefits and services and was created in 2019. Gee I wonder who they got that idea from?

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Given the amount of outright money laundering and tax evasion we have I'm okay with the CRA increasing staff to sleuth it out. Of course if we had a responsible immigration system a lot of it would have been headed off at the pass.

CRA is mandated to catch tax evasion, but has not been empowered by legislation to catch money laundering.

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by P'tit Renard

It's shocking that CRA headcount at 60K is now >3x as much as the Australian Tax office. What makes Canada's tax system so exceptional relative to the Aussies that allows Canada to justify such an overbloated taxation office? The CRA is one of many federal agencies ripe for PP to start slashing headcount, just to bring the bureaucracy back in line with our Anglosphere peers.

Even back in 2022 the numbers were already way out of whack:


https://www.canadianaffairs.news/202...main-constant/

"The more analogous institution to the CRA, Psiachos says, is Australia’s federal tax bureaucracy, the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

Since 2013, the ATO has employed roughly 20,000 people, with 20,400 employees as of 2022. That means that Australia had one tax employee for every 1,300 people in 2022, roughly half the number of employees per capita as Canada.

Australia is a better comparison to Canada, Psiachos notes, because both countries have a national corporate, personal and sales tax, whereas the US does not have a national sales tax. Australia and Canada’s corporate tax regimes and enforcement are also similar, as both countries are homes to branch or subsidiary offices of multinational corporations."

The CRA also handles income tax collection for most of the provinces, while none of the Australian States collect income tax. Not try to justify bloat, but this could explain some of the staffing differences between Canada and Australia. It's not an apples to apples comparison, there are differences with taxation between both countries.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

The CRA also handles income tax collection for most of the provinces, while none of the Australian States collect income tax. Not try to justify bloat, but this could explain some of the staffing differences between Canada and Australia. It's not an apples to apples comparison, there are differences with taxation between both countries.

Good points.

I still think CRA is inordinately bloated, but, this explains some of what we see......

[Hecate]

Taxes are way higher in Canada than in Australia. And their entire tax system makes way more sense than Canadas bat shit crazy list of loopholes and exemptions all of which are make work projects. Just let people keep their money instead of taking it and redistributing it.

[P'tit Renard]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

The CRA also handles income tax collection for most of the provinces, while none of the Australian States collect income tax. Not try to justify bloat, but this could explain some of the staffing differences between Canada and Australia. It's not an apples to apples comparison, there are differences with taxation between both countries.

For the provinces in which CRA administers/collects taxes on their behalf, the provincial rules are for the most part harmonized with federal tax law. Given automation and e-filing of returns, there shouldn't be substantial headcount to administer federal and provincial taxes together.

In the audit space, CRA doesn't separate out between federal or provincial audits, so there shouldn't be a duplication of effort either.

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Good points.

I still think CRA is inordinately bloated, but, this explains some of what we see......

The CRA historically had employment levels of 40 - 45 thousand in the recent past. Not sure why they need 30% more post 2020, as no great expansion of their mandate has occurred in that time other than one-time COVID programs long ended. Nor has their service or evasion busting ability increased visibly.

[whatnext]

Welcome to the world Justin Trudeau created. Why are foreign students protesting to try and force a government duly elected by Canadians to change their policies?

Immigration protest on P.E.I. could turn into hunger strike, organizer warns
Group to meet Tuesday with minister of workforce, advanced learning and population
Shane Ross · CBC News · Posted: May 13, 2024

Some immigrant workers are prepared to go on a hunger strike if the P.E.I. government doesn't reverse some recent changes to who gets preference under the Provincial Nominee Program, says one of the people behind the daily protests in Charlottetown.

Rupinder Pal Singh said they are giving the province until May 16 to meet their demands, which include extending work permits for immigrants who are already here, working and hoping for permanent residency.

"Our province gave us false hopes," said Singh, who came to Canada from India in 2019.

"They were giving us wrong information. This is totally an exploitation."

"If any of our demands are not fulfilled by 16th of May, [if] we are not grandfathered, we are going to give this protest another name. This will be hunger strike to death," said Singh.

"We are losing our work permits. There are no other places for us to go."..

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/princ...tion-1.7202686

[theman23]

Originally Posted by whatnext

"If any of our demands are not fulfilled by 16th of May, [if] we are not grandfathered, we are going to give this protest another name. This will be hunger strike to death," said Singh.

Oof.
Anyhow, it's blatantly obvious that the millions of international students JT brought in are not here "temporarily" and will not leave willingly. We've created a permanent underclass that'll have generational rancour towards our society. Was it worth it? I guess that depends on how often you eat at McDonalds.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Okay, how about charged? Do you have any stats on the citizenship of those charged with tax evasion and money laundering? Or are you just resorting to xenophobic "it's all the immigrants fault" type of argument?

And if you want to talk about charged, let's talk about how Canada allowed this case to collapse....

REAL SCOOP: Why did Canada's largest money laundering case fail?
Author of the article: Kim Bolan
Published Oct 18, 2019

Police working for two years on the E-Pirate money laundering case believe they collected enough evidence for a successful prosecution. But the case against Silver International never made it to court. Federal prosecutors stayed all charges last November.

I investigated what went wrong.

Months after charges were stayed in Canada’s largest money-laundering case, neither the RCMP nor the Public Prosecution Service of Canada has provided any public explanation of what went wrong.

But a Postmedia investigation has uncovered details of how the massive prosecution of Silver International and its owners, Caixuan Qin and Jian Jun Zhu, was derailed...

....When Postmedia revealed that the charges against Qin, Zhu and their allegedly illegal bank were quietly stayed last November, former investigators who worked tirelessly on the file were stunned.

“I was shocked because it was a good case. It was an exceptionally good case,” retired Insp. Bruce Ward said Thursday.

“I was very disappointed in that we — the RCMP — would walk away from all that effort without an attempt to fight — fight for the people of B.C. It is not about me and this project — look at the public reaction when that file collapsed.”...

https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-...ring-case-fail