Hundreds of Canadians were among the international clients who avoided paying taxes with the help of British bank HSBC, reports Canada’s domestic public broadcaster CBC.
A massive trove of documents concerning Swiss bank accounts was collected by whistleblower Hervé Falciani who handed them over to tax authorities. The documents were then obtained by the French newspaper Le Monde and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists who shared them with CBC.
Those who own up are not prosecuted
The value of accounts tied to Canada is around four billion dollars Canadian involving 1,859 people or companies. The Canada Revenue Agency says 264 Canadians have come forward under the agency’s voluntary disclosure program and it has recovered $28.4 million from them. The province of Quebec, which has a separate tax department, reports it has recovered $34.4 million form 88 individuals.
None of these individuals has been prosecuted because they came forward voluntarily and thus are shielded from prosecution and penalties. This contrasts with France which has launched 103 actions.
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