Voluntary Disclosures: You can run but you can’t hide

About This Episode

With increasing global connectedness, the world today is smaller than it’s ever been.

Countries are coming together to share information in a global trend towards greater transparency and with that, undeclared assets are much more likely to be discovered.

So if you’ve found yourself in a situation with undeclared assets, what can you do to get on the right side of things?

That’s where voluntary disclosures come in, allowing taxpayers to come forward voluntarily and correct tax filings with the assurance that there will be no investigations for tax avoidance or evasion.

To help us explore voluntary disclosures, we’re joined by an expert in the field, Stephen Solomon. Stephen is a partner at De Grandpré Chait and North American chair of the Global Tax team of Interlaw and he has extensive experience with the provincial and federal voluntary disclosure programs, especially in the context of undeclared foreign assets and income.

In this episode, Marcelo and Stephen talk about how Canadians can utilize the voluntary disclosure program, consequences for non-disclosure, the advantages voluntary disclosure offers to taxpayers, and so much more!

Thank you for listening!

Key Topics:

• Why Canadian investors need to know about the voluntary disclosure program (1:00)
• Introducing Stephen Solomon (2:59)
• Why Stephen became a lawyer (5:35)
• Stephen’s unusual journey to a focus on tax law (7:11)
• Stephen’s introduction to offshore banking and voluntary disclosures (9:10)
• How the voluntary disclosure program helps Canadian taxpayers (12:03)
• Common scenarios where voluntary disclosures are used (14:27)
• Canadian tax obligations that apply to your foreign holdings (15:50)
• Two types of voluntary disclosure programs (18:08)
• The psychological side of non-disclosure (20:20)
• Why we’re seeing an increase in voluntary disclosures (21:43)
• The global trend towards greater transparency (23:25)
• Global initiatives to reduce corporate tax avoidance (24:51)
• Case studies of voluntary disclosure versus getting caught (25:31)
• Why the process of determining taxes owed often gets complicated (27:32)
• Advantages of working with an experienced team (28:58)
• What to do if you find yourself with undeclared assets (31:14)
• Inheriting undeclared assets (32:49)
• How the tax planning landscape has changed in recent decades (34:09)
• Why it’s worth your while to research tax planning strategies (35:11)
• Tax considerations when trading cryptocurrency (36:58)
• Why it’s crucial to maintain your own records for cryptocurrency transactions (38:53)
• Our key takeaways for Canadian taxpayers about voluntary disclosures (40:58)