St. Catharines, Ontario, July 27, 2016… The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that on July 25, 2016, William Mori of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, was sentenced, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in St. Catharines, to four months in jail for each count of tax evasion, to be served consecutively, and a fine of $168,235. On April 29, 2016, Mori was found guilty of three counts of income tax evasion. The court imposed fine represents 75% of the taxes evaded. In addition to the fine, Mori will have to pay the full amount of tax owing, plus related interest and any penalties assessed by the CRA.

A CRA investigation revealed that, from 2007 to 2009, Mori deliberately failed to report income totalling $864,200 on his personal tax returns. Mori received the income from managing his company, 411279 Ontario Ltd, in Niagara-on-the Lake.

Mori relied on a scheme promoted by the Paradigm Education Group that promotes the concept of a “natural person”. For a fee of 7% of Mori’s unreported income, a Paradigm “educator” coached Mori on how to employ Paradigm’s false belief that as a “natural person” he could receive income that was exempt from income tax. In so doing, Mori evaded federal income taxes of $224,313.

The preceding information was obtained from the court records.

“Tax evasion takes money away from the services that benefit all Canadians,” said Vince Pranjivan, Assistant Commissioner of the Ontario Region. “The CRA takes action against those who try to avoid paying what they owe.”

The Canada Revenue Agency warns all Canadians to beware of tax protesters that try to convince you that Canadians do not have to pay tax on the income they earn. Canadian courts have repeatedly and consistently rejected arguments made in these tax protester schemes. For those involved in tax protester schemes, the CRA will reassess income tax and interest, and charge penalties. In addition, if convicted of tax evasion, the court may fine them up to 200% of the tax evaded and sentence them for up to a five-year jail term. More information on tax protester schemes is available at www.cra.gc.ca/alert.

If you have ever made a tax mistake or omission, the CRA is offering you a second chance to make things right through its Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP). If you make a valid disclosure before you become aware that the CRA is taking action against you, you may only have to pay the taxes owing plus interest. More information on the VDP can be found on the CRA's website at www.cra.gc.ca/voluntarydisclosures.

Further information on convictions can be found in the Media Room on the CRA website at www.cra.gc.ca/convictions.

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Paul Murphy
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