20/06/22

CANADA: KPMG claims it has been 'cleared' by CRA probe of offshore tax scheme.

As published on cbc.ca, Monday 20 June, 2022.

The accounting firm KPMG claims it has been "cleared of any wrongdoing" by a months-long Canada Revenue Agency criminal probe into an offshore tax scheme that allowed wealthy Canadians to receive tax-free funds.

"KPMG fully and voluntarily cooperated with a thorough investigation. The investigation concluded and KPMG was cleared of any wrongdoing," KPMG spokesperson Tenille Kennedy said in a brief email on Tuesday.

The firm was responding for the first time to requests for comment from Radio-Canada, which reported Tuesday that the CRA investigation into this file had been completed for more than a year and that its conclusions had not been made public.

According to a series of reports published by CBC and Radio-Canada since 2015, KPMG set up a system through which wealthy Canadians transferred assets to the Isle of Man tax haven and then recovered the funds tax-free.

The CRA had argued in court documents that this scheme was created in 1999 to "deceive" tax authorities.