“Tax me if you can!”
How about those rich and famous folks? Recently, 450 Canadians were among thousands of investors worldwide who had their secret offshore investments disclosed to the news media. More than two million leaked documents contained a treasure trove of juicy information.
Tony Merchant, a well-known Regina lawyer, was one of those investors. The $1.7 million he stashed in a top-secret family trust in the Cook Islands was featured on CBC's "The National" on April 3. Adding to the drama, his wife is a senator and his frequent battles in the tax courts are a matter of public record. Although required by law, it seems Merchant did not disclose his offshore trust to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). But he's not the only Canadian using secretive tax havens to avoid paying their fair share.
CTV's "W5" featured its show "Tax me if you can" on April 6. It contrasted the CRA's harsh and arbitrary assessments of two ordinary Canadians with the apparently kid-glove treatment of wealthy tax haven investors.
Despite revenue minister Gail Shea's tough talk to the contrary, it seems Canadians squirreling money offshore have little to worry about.
Information on 106 Canadians with investments in Liechtenstein, a tiny tax haven in Europe, was leaked to the CRA in 2008. But none of the Canadians have been charged and less than half the taxes assessed have been collected. However, the CRA has closed those files according to "W5."
The small and exclusive club at the top of Canadian society includes politicians. The business people who hide their money in offshore tax havens are on excellent terms with the people who run our country. So it's no big surprise that our politicians don't want the taxman to clamp down on their friends and relatives. It doesn't help that international tax law is complex with many grey areas.
However, some things are changing. A major public outcry in Britain against multi-national companies that paid little or no income tax in the UK brought surprising results. Starbucks UK recently announced that it would pay "a significant amount of tax during 2013 and 2014, regardless of whether the company is profitable."
Where does that leave the rest of us? It is well established that citizens have the right to arrange their affairs to pay the least amount of taxes. Unless you're Starbucks trying to win back public favour, tax avoidance is okay.
But what about tax evasion? Does the latest news change anything? Should the dishonesty of others impact our own decisions?
Many Christians are tempted to cheat on their taxes. Some do. But we are called to live with integrity and honesty, tax returns included. Proverbs 10:9 gives one reason why. "Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out."
This has been a public issue since before the time of Christ. Plato said, "When there is an income tax, the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income."
However you feel about paying taxes, 1 John 3:20 should be the final word for Christ followers: "God… knows everything."
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