Archived - Department of Finance Releases Legislative Proposals to Better Fight Tax Evasion and Secure Tax Compliance

April 15, 2016 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance

The Department of Finance today released for consultation draft legislative proposals to implement the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which will ensure tax fairness and improve Canada’s ability to detect and address tax evasion. Canada is one of the more than 90 jurisdictions that have committed to implement the CRS, which was developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

As announced on February 5, 2016, and confirmed in Budget 2016, Canada intends to implement the CRS starting on July 1, 2017. As of that date, Canadian financial institutions would be required to have procedures in place to identify accounts held by non-residents and to report the required information to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

As the CRA formalizes exchange arrangements with foreign jurisdictions, having verified that each jurisdiction has appropriate capacity and safeguards in place, the information would begin to be exchanged on a reciprocal, bilateral basis with the jurisdiction in which the account holder is resident. The information received from partner jurisdictions will help Canada better fight tax evasion, ensure tax compliance and protect the integrity of Canada’s tax system.

Interested parties are invited to provide comments on the draft legislative proposals by July 15, 2016. Comments can be directed to fin.CRS-NCD.fin@canada.ca or to:

Tax Policy Branch
Department of Finance
90 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G5

Annie Donolo
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Finance
613-369-5697

Jack Aubry
Media Relations
Department of Finance
613-369-4000

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