The darker side of CRA.
Canadian tax department worker prepared returns for dead people!
TORONTO, ON – A Canada Revenue Agency worker used internal government records to prepare tax returns for 39 dead people to earn herself $85,000.
Erica Ford of Scarborough, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto.
She was fined $20,000, which was paid immediately, and given a conditional sentence that includes 12 months house arrest. Ford was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.
Ford was employed with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a telephone agent from May 2000 to December 2008.
In this position, she accessed individual taxpayer accounts maintained by the CRA. Ford used the personal information of 57 taxpayers, including 39 deceased taxpayers, to prepare and file 178 personal income tax returns, CRA said.
“The assessment of these tax returns resulted in the CRA issuing GST credits and provincial tax credits totalling $85,654 to which Ford was not entitled, and which were deposited to bank accounts under her control.”
“The CRA takes its obligation to protect taxpayer information seriously, and is committed to complying with the laws, regulations, policies, and procedures that govern the work done by its employees,” CRA said.
That may be so, but… what does this all tell us?
W5 exposes how CRA has disdain for even their own rules.
W5 has again brought more CRA abuse to light.
I don’t know what it is going to take to turn this around, but sooner or later, change will come. Our great hope is that by way of the internet, tweets and all… as in Tunisia, Jordon, Egypt, etc., and in Canada over the Canadian Radio and Television Commission ( CRTC ) backing off from limiting the amount of data we can download to what we can afford to pay.
Change will come… however in the mean time, we help Canadians, one at a time to fight the CRA injustice. We had another court win this past Friday. Our client’s case background was just as outrageous. My next blog will be on this.
To win against CRA is now small task… for the average Canadian to do this on their own, it is nothing short of a nightmare, just to get simple justice.
In the following two videos, you can see what every day Canadians are dealing with. This type of thing is pretty normal for them to do. We see it all the time, but so far the light in Canada has not gone off.
W5 The Audit
Part one
Tax season can be a frustrating time for most Canadians, but what happens if the taxman decides to conduct an audit? For Eli Humby, his audit turned into a long fight with the Canada Revenue Agency that compromised his business and personal life. W5’s Paula Todd reports.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/WFive/20110204/w5-taxman-horrror-stories110205/
Part Two
Retired Master Cpl. Chuck Martinello went to war with the CRA for more than two years on behalf of his wife, who was audited in 2008 for repairs to a rental property damaged by Hurricane Igor in 2004.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/WFive/20110204/w5-taxman-horror-stories110205/
Change to CRA will come but it is going to take an awakening of Canadians to realize that just because this has not happened to them, it does not mean that it won’t.