August 7, 2018 Montréal Canada Revenue Agency

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that Danièle Bérubé-Poulin, a tax protester from Lévis, pleaded guilty today to tax fraud charges before the Court of Quebec in Québec City. She received a six-month conditional sentence.

Ms. Bérubé-Poulin acted as a facilitator for Serge Fréchette, a tax protester found guilty of fraud on February 9, 2018. A CRA investigation revealed that, for the 2008 to 2010 tax years, Danièle Bérubé-Poulin advised and enabled 16 individuals to evade or try to evade a total of $92,523 in federal income tax by claiming false expenses to reduce their taxable income. The scheme employed is based on an argument made by tax protesters, which Canadian courts have repeatedly and consistently rejected.

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

Tax protesters are individuals who support the false notion that they do not have to pay tax on the income they earn on the basis of a combination of legal and other arguments to place themselves beyond the reach of Canada’s tax laws. Participating in a tax protester scheme can have serious consequences including a criminal prosecution leading to jail time and fines. Between 2006 and 2017, 75 taxpayers/promoters from across Canada were convicted of tax offences related to tax schemes. This led to $7.15 million in court imposed fines and a total of 936 months of jail time awarded. To learn more, go to canada.ca/tax-alert

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

Associated Links

Offshore Tax Informant Program
Voluntary Disclosures Program

- 30 -

Contact

Frédérick Fink
Canada Revenue Agency
514-283-2628