A former Victoria resident has plead guilty to income tax evasion in the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa.
Denis Wilson was ordered to serve a conditional sentence of two years less one day, including house arrest and 80 hours of community service.
He was fined $62,676, representing 75 per cent of the taxes evaded.
A CRA investigation determined that from 2006 to 2011, Wilson prepared income tax returns for 14 clients, in which he overstated business losses. Some of the businesses were non-existent or were, in fact, hobbies of the taxpayers.
This caused his clients to evade federal income tax in the amount of $83,568. Wilson gained his clients’ trust by falsely representing himself as a former CRA employee.
His clients were unaware that he made false claims on their returns.
When taxpayers are convicted of income tax evasion, they must still repay the full amount of taxes owing, plus interest and any civil penalties that may be assessed by the Canada Revenue Agency. In addition, the court may fine them up to 200 per cent of the taxes evaded and impose a jail term of up to five years.