On January 11, 2010, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) released statistics regarding their activities to catch taxpayers who haven’t filed income tax returns or those who under-reported their income (the press release is no longer available on the CRA website).
In the 2008-2009 tax year, CRA performed more than 1,100 net worth audits through its special enforcement division. These audits were performed by the special enforcement division because it was suspected that the taxpayer was earning income from an illegal source. Further, CRA’s audits in the same period identified almost $8 billion in non-compliance from Canadian businesses. CRA also provided statistics as to its accomplishments in using the criminal justice system to combat non-compliance.
It should be noted that the figures that CRA quotes from its audits are a preliminary figure as the figures are counted before any appeals have been made or finalized. It would be interesting for CRA to review these figures in 5-10 years to see how these totals have held up after the appeals have been concluded.