Ottawa tax preparer gets $250,000 fine and conditional jail sentence for tax and GST/HST evasion

November 27, 2019

Ottawa, Ontario

Canada Revenue Agency

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that Theresa Morell of Ottawa, Ontario, was sentenced on September 16, 2019, to a conditional jail sentence of two years less a day where the first 12 months is subject to house arrest, and was fined $250,000. Morell pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa to one count of tax evasion under the Income Tax Act on her personal income tax return and one count under the Excise Tax Act of wilful evasion of goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST). Morell 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 Morell operated a tax preparation business known as The Tax Place and failed to report income totalling $375,000 from her tax preparation business on her personal income tax returns for the 2010 to 2014 taxation years. This unreported income resulted in the evasion of approximately $145,000 in federal taxes by Morell. Her business also failed to remit GST/HST collected but not remitted in the total of $104,000 for the 2010 to 2014 filing periods.

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. From April 1st, 2018 to March 31st, 2019, there were 22 convictions, with 12 taxpayers sent to jail for a total of 19 years. These individuals were sentenced for wilfully evading payment of $4,179,089 in taxes.

Cheating on your taxes affects the services and programs we all rely on to improve our quality of life. While most Canadians obey the tax laws and pay their taxes, the CRA maintains various programs to protect the integrity of the tax system.

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

Alan Murray
Communications Manager
416-952-8096

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