Markham resident gets six months conditional sentence, fined for GST/HST fraud

June 17, 2019     

Newmarket, Ontario 

Canada Revenue Agency

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that Niranjan Thirunavukkarasu (Thirunavukkarasu) of Markham, Ontario pleaded guilty on June 10, 2019, in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket, to one count of goods and services tax / harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) fraud under the Excise Tax Act. Thirunavukkarasu was sentenced to a conditional sentence order of 6 months and 120 hours of community service.  He also received a fine of $158,445 representing 100% of the GST/HST refunds he fraudulently claimed.

Thirunavukkarasu is the sole shareholder, president and a director of 2176046 Ontario Inc., a company which owned and operated a gasoline station and propane retailing business with an in-house convenience store, located in Trenton, Ontario. A CRA investigation determined that Thirunavukkarasu filed false GST/HST returns for the monthly filing periods from November 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014, and claimed refunds totalling $158,445 to which the company was not entitled.

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

Tax evasion is a crime. Falsification of records and claims, wilfully not reporting income, or inflating expenses can lead to criminal charges, prosecution, jail time, and a criminal record. In 2018-2019, 12 taxpayers were sent to jail for a total of 19 years.

Willfully failing to follow tax laws could result in serious consequences, including reassessments, the imposition of civil penalties and criminal tax investigations and prosecutions resulting in the imposition of court fines and jail time. Under the income tax and excise tax laws, persons convicted of tax evasion will face fines ranging from 50% to 200% of the evaded taxes and up to five years imprisonment. Being convicted of fraud under the Criminal Code carries a sentence of up to 14 years in jail.

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

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Contacts

Paul N Murphy
Senior Communications Advisor
416-952-8105

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