The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has announced that investigators from Canada and the UK carried out a number of searches on June 13 in connection with an alleged tax fraud scheme.
The CRA said that it launched an investigation after discovering that, over a five-year period, 11 foreign nationals based in the UK allegedly orchestrated a so-called carousel scheme. This tax fraud and money laundering scheme involved an attempt to obtain CAD52m (USD39.4m) in false GST/HST refunds and rebates.
More than 80 investigators from the CRA and the UK’s tax agency, HM Revenue and Customs, were involved in the execution of search warrants at three locations in Canada and six locations in the UK.
According to the CRA, the fraud involves an organized scheme where a business buys and sells goods or services, and charges the GST/HST from one company to another. The GST/HST input credit for taxes charged is then claimed from the CRA for a refund.
Read more at Tax News