Alan Baggett
2013-12-03 13:03:54 UTC
Canada Revenue Agency has no evidence to show its organized crime plan is working : CRA SOTW
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News November 24, 2013 3:11 PM
OTTAWA — The Canada Revenue Agency says it has increased staff in a new unit to investigate charities – from 19 to 31 full-time equivalent workers for the current year.
But as it adds staff to increase surveillance of charities in the midst of overall cuts related to federal efforts to slash the deficit, the agency hasn’t been able to provide evidence that its strategies are working.
A federal spokesman said it increased overall resources to crack down on illegal activities, but it had no statistics to support its claims about improving measures to fight organized crime.
The questions were raised in recent weeks, following revelations that a special organized crime unit — previously known as the “Special Enforcement Program” — was disbanded, having its role integrated into other audit programs.
“The audit programs in question have a much larger resource base from which to draw on to address those who attempt to gain financially from illegal activities,” said Noel Carisse, an assistant director of communications at the agency in an email to Postmedia News. “As a result, the agency’s overall capacity to address the workload previously done in the SEP has increased. Given that the re-organization of the SEP is fairly recent, there are no statistics or results available at this time.”
The comments came in the midst of an internal investigation into a mysterious $400,000 cheque from the agency in September 2007 to a reputed Montreal mafia leader that was retrieved and cancelled by a member of the team that wound up eliminated.
The agency has predicted it will eliminate 3,000 jobs over the next three years, down from an estimated 41,144 full-time equivalent workers in 2012-13.
But the agency said it would be “misleading” to compare its resources of a new “Criminal Investigations Directorate” – which has the equivalent of about 500 full-time workers to a previously existing enforcement division that had about 762 full-time workers, since it split off some of those roles into other parts of the agency.
“Our criminal investigation resources are also strengthened as a result of this change, as the investigators will be completely focused on the criminal element of non-compliance since the civil component will be addressed by our audit program,” said Carisse.
As it was cutting budgets throughout its operations, the agency launched an $8 million investment over two years announced in the 2012 federal budget, which was meant to crack down on charities engaging in excessive political activity. But this also hasn’t resulted in any statistical success, apart from one organization, Physicians for Global Survival, which lost its charitable status.
The new resources from the charities division are also being used to require organizations to produce more reports about their activities that allow the government to collect details about their campaigns on the Internet, advertising and protests.
Organizations that are granted charitable status by the federal government are allowed to issue tax receipts to donors, but must also ensure that they limit political activity to less than 10 per cent of their operations in order to remain in good standing.
The Harper government launched its crackdown on the charities following complaints advanced by oil, gas and pipeline company lobbyists and supporters that claimed environmental groups were using foreign funding as part of a conspiracy to shut down the Canadian economy’s energy industry.
Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay defended the crackdown on charities in October, telling Postmedia News that it wasn’t “about the numbers,” but rather about “who’s complying and who isn’t” with Canada’s tax laws.
Opposition New Democrats and Liberals have described the plan as a partisan witch hunt to target environmental groups who disagree with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s economic policies and keep them tied up with excessive paperwork and reports.
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
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Miss a Tax Tale Miss a lot!
Visit the CRA SOTW Library at http://canada.revenue.agency.angelfire.com
------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Baggett – Tax Collector’s Bible - http://taxcollectorsbible.com/
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News November 24, 2013 3:11 PM
OTTAWA — The Canada Revenue Agency says it has increased staff in a new unit to investigate charities – from 19 to 31 full-time equivalent workers for the current year.
But as it adds staff to increase surveillance of charities in the midst of overall cuts related to federal efforts to slash the deficit, the agency hasn’t been able to provide evidence that its strategies are working.
A federal spokesman said it increased overall resources to crack down on illegal activities, but it had no statistics to support its claims about improving measures to fight organized crime.
The questions were raised in recent weeks, following revelations that a special organized crime unit — previously known as the “Special Enforcement Program” — was disbanded, having its role integrated into other audit programs.
“The audit programs in question have a much larger resource base from which to draw on to address those who attempt to gain financially from illegal activities,” said Noel Carisse, an assistant director of communications at the agency in an email to Postmedia News. “As a result, the agency’s overall capacity to address the workload previously done in the SEP has increased. Given that the re-organization of the SEP is fairly recent, there are no statistics or results available at this time.”
The comments came in the midst of an internal investigation into a mysterious $400,000 cheque from the agency in September 2007 to a reputed Montreal mafia leader that was retrieved and cancelled by a member of the team that wound up eliminated.
The agency has predicted it will eliminate 3,000 jobs over the next three years, down from an estimated 41,144 full-time equivalent workers in 2012-13.
But the agency said it would be “misleading” to compare its resources of a new “Criminal Investigations Directorate” – which has the equivalent of about 500 full-time workers to a previously existing enforcement division that had about 762 full-time workers, since it split off some of those roles into other parts of the agency.
“Our criminal investigation resources are also strengthened as a result of this change, as the investigators will be completely focused on the criminal element of non-compliance since the civil component will be addressed by our audit program,” said Carisse.
As it was cutting budgets throughout its operations, the agency launched an $8 million investment over two years announced in the 2012 federal budget, which was meant to crack down on charities engaging in excessive political activity. But this also hasn’t resulted in any statistical success, apart from one organization, Physicians for Global Survival, which lost its charitable status.
The new resources from the charities division are also being used to require organizations to produce more reports about their activities that allow the government to collect details about their campaigns on the Internet, advertising and protests.
Organizations that are granted charitable status by the federal government are allowed to issue tax receipts to donors, but must also ensure that they limit political activity to less than 10 per cent of their operations in order to remain in good standing.
The Harper government launched its crackdown on the charities following complaints advanced by oil, gas and pipeline company lobbyists and supporters that claimed environmental groups were using foreign funding as part of a conspiracy to shut down the Canadian economy’s energy industry.
Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay defended the crackdown on charities in October, telling Postmedia News that it wasn’t “about the numbers,” but rather about “who’s complying and who isn’t” with Canada’s tax laws.
Opposition New Democrats and Liberals have described the plan as a partisan witch hunt to target environmental groups who disagree with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s economic policies and keep them tied up with excessive paperwork and reports.
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
-----------------------------------------------------------
Miss a Tax Tale Miss a lot!
Visit the CRA SOTW Library at http://canada.revenue.agency.angelfire.com
------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Baggett – Tax Collector’s Bible - http://taxcollectorsbible.com/