Owner of Sudbury roofing business fined for tax evasion

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announces that, on March 11, 2021, Michele Faiella, of Sudbury, Ontario, pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice in Sudbury, to two counts of tax evasion under the Income Tax Act and 12 counts of tax evasion under the Excise Tax Act. Faiella was sentenced to a 18-month probation order, and was fined a total of $57,786. In addition to the court imposed fine, Faiella will also be assessed the full amount of tax owing, plus related interest and any penalties assessed by the CRA.

A CRA investigation revealed that Faiella, sole proprietor of Faiella Roofing, wilfully evaded the payment of $19,651 in federal taxes by failing to report income of $162,379 on his individual income tax return for the 2014 tax year. The investigation also revealed that Faiella underreported revenue on Faiella Roofing’s Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) returns, wilfully obtained refunds to which he was not entitled and evaded the payment of net tax by failing to report $96,011 in GST/HST collected from his customers during a three-year period from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2014.

All case-specific information above was obtained from the court records.

The CRA publicizes convictions for tax evasion to maintain confidence in the integrity of Canada’s self-assessment tax system and to deter others from failing to comply with our tax laws. The CRA may also publicize different stages of an investigation to warn Canadians of potentially fraudulent tax schemes. To ensure the tax system is fair for everyone, the CRA makes sure that people who try to avoid or evade paying tax are held to account. Choosing not to follow Canada’s tax laws can result in serious consequences. These consequences include audit reassessments, civil penalties, criminal tax investigations and prosecutions resulting in possible court fines and/or jail time along with a criminal record.

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.

The CRA has set up a free subscription service to help Canadians stay current on the CRA’s enforcement efforts.

- 30 -

Contacts

Paul N Murphy
Senior Communications Advisor
416-952-8105
PaulNoel.Murphy@cra-arc.gc.ca