Alberta man convicted for tax fraud: Misleading Individual Tax Returns

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that Sean Nethercott of De Winton, Alberta, was sentenced on March 7, 2024, in the Alberta Court of Justice, to a conditional sentence order of 12 months and was fined a total of $50,000. Nethercott pleaded guilty to making false or deceptive statements in his T1 Individual Tax Returns in order to evade taxes and obtain refunds and tax credits to which he was not entitled. 

A CRA investigation revealed that Nethercott understated his taxable income and claimed false losses, expenses, and deductions to reduce his net income for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 tax years. Nethercott also made false claims for refunds, thereby attempting to evade $51,952 in tax and to obtain $28,637 in tax credits to which he was not entitled.

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, court imposed fines, jail time, and a criminal record. Cheating on your taxes affects the services and programs we all rely on to improve our quality of life. To ensure that the tax system is fair for everyone, the CRA makes sure that people who try to avoid or evade paying taxes are held accountable.

In addition to the court imposed fines and/or jail sentences, convicted taxpayers have to pay the full amount of tax owing, plus related interest and any penalties assessed by the CRA.  

The CRA is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s tax system, thereby contributing to the social and economic well-being of Canadians. The CRA continues to aggressively pursue tax evasion, and false claims with all the tools available to it. The CRA works to make sure that individuals and businesses report all income earned and only claim benefits to which they are entitled, so that important benefit programs can be administered to those who need them. Any individual or business who underreports income, or claims losses or benefits to which they are not entitled 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.

Associated links

• Reporting suspected tax or benefit cheating in Canada
• Voluntary Disclosures Program

Contacts

Media Relations
Canada Revenue Agency
613-948-8366
cra-arc.media@cra-arc.gc.ca

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