Calgary concrete contractor sentenced and fined over $41,900 for tax evasion
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that Mohammed Issam Nasser of Calgary, Alberta, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on December 17, 2020, in the Provincial Court of Alberta. As the sole shareholder and director of 1058490 Alberta Ltd., operating as All Time on Time Enterprises (All Time), Mr. Nasser pleaded guilty to five counts of tax evasion under the Income Tax Act, as well as three counts of tax evasion under the Excise Tax Act. Mr. Nasser was ordered to serve a 12-month conditional sentence, and was fined a total of $41,906. In addition to the court imposed fine, Mr. Nasser will also have to pay the full amount of tax owing, plus related interest and any penalties assessed by the CRA.
A CRA investigation revealed that Mr. Nasser intentionally underreported All Time’s taxable business income by $250,958 for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 tax years. Mr. Nasser deposited All Time’s business income into multiple bank accounts, but only supplied his accountant with statements from one of them to calculate reported sales. Mr. Nasser also underreported revenue on his Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax(GST/HST) returns, and failed to report and remit $12,549 in GST/HST that he collected for the same three-year period. The investigation also determined that Mr. Nasser appropriated $126,757 in personal benefits from his company for the 2014 and 2015 calendar years, evading $22,951 in federal income tax.
All case-specific information above was obtained from the court records.
Tax evasion is a crime. Falsifying records and claims, wilfully not reporting income, or inflating expenses can lead to criminal charges, prosecution, jail time, and a criminal record. From April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, there were 32 convictions, with 13 taxpayers sent to jail for a total of 18.5 years. These individuals were sentenced for wilfully evading payment of $7,427,090 in tax.
The CRA remains dedicated to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s tax system, as well as the social and economic well-being of Canadians during these unprecedented times. The CRA continues to aggressively pursue tax evasion and false claims with all tools available to them. The CRA is continuously working towards making sure that individuals and businesses claim income earned, eligible losses, and benefits to which they are entitled, so that important benefit programs can be administered to those who need them. As a result of COVID-19, we are seeing the increased importance of these benefits, and are working to make sure that they continue to be available to Canadians. Any individual or business who underreports income, or claims losses or benefits to which they are not entitled, including ineligible claims for COVID-19 benefits, may have to repay the benefit amounts and may be subject to other possible action.
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Contacts
Media Relations - Regional contact
Joanne de Waal
Canada Revenue Agency
306-517-0515
Joanne.deWaal@cra-arc.gc.ca
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