Business owner evades tax; fined $170,000

An Ontario business owner has been convicted of tax evasion.

Brian Ball and Bluewater Environmental (Western Canada) Inc., both of Sarnia, Ontario, pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice in Sarnia on August 13, 2012, to a total of ten counts of making false statements on income tax returns, and five counts of GST evasion.

They were fined a total of $169,735 which represents 50% of the total federal income taxes and GST evaded. The fines have since been paid in full.

Read: Provinces crack down on aggressive tax planning

A CRA investigation revealed that from 2004 to 2008, Ball, who was also President of Bluewater Environmental (Western Canada) Inc., diverted revenue, including GST collected, to his personal bank account.

The diverted revenue was then subsequently used to pay for personal expenses such as credit card bills, insurance, vehicle repairs and debit card purchases. Neither Ball nor Bluewater Environmental reported these revenues on their income tax and GST returns.

In doing so, Ball sought to evade income tax of $197,499 and Bluewater Environmental sought to evade $97,667 in federal income tax and $44,305 in GST.

Read the full ruling here.

Staff

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