Dartmouth (June 10, 2020) – A Nova Scotia Provincial Court sentenced Dartmouth businessman, Arlington Smith, for tax evasion, on June 9. The owner of Sunshine Driveway Sealers, a driveway paving and sealing company, failed to report business income and unremitted GST/HST was identified. Smith received a six-month conditional sentence and was fined over $52,000.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that the Dartmouth businessman, Arlington Smith, received a six-month conditional sentence for tax evasion, according to the agency’s enforcement notification of June 9.
Tax evasion by Sunshine Driveway Sealers owner
A CRA investigation revealed that Smith failed to report net business income of his driveway paving and sealing company totalling $214,416 for the 2013 to 2016 taxation years. The Nova Scotia man operated Sunshine Driveway Sealers jointly with his wife. The unreported income resulted in the evasion of $50,410, the CRA said.
Furthermore, the CRA also identified $55,022 in unremitted GST/HST collected by Sunshine Driveway Sealers during the annual filing periods from 2013 to 2016.
Nova Scotia Provincial Court sentence
On February 10 of this year, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of willful evasion of GST/HST. The Nova Scotia Provincial Court in Dartmouth handed down a conditional sentence of six months and fined him a total of $52,716, on June 9.
‘Any individual or business who underreports income, or claims losses or benefits that they are not entitled to, including ineligible claims related to new COVID-19 benefits, will face serious consequences,’ the CRA pointed out in its enforcement notification.
According to the CRA, in addition to the criminal fine and sentence imposed on Smith, any affected parties will be subjected to civil reassessments including applicable penalties and interest.
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