A Tri-City real estate developer will pay a $23,100 fine after being found guilty of tax evasion last week.
A trial judge found that Anmore resident Willi Isaak failed to report corporate and personal income totalling $181,902 for 2009 and 2010, according to the Canada Revenue Agency. As a result, Issak was found guilty of two counts of tax evasion, one count of making false statements under the Income Tax Act and one count of evading GST/HST payments under the Excise Tax Act.
Court documents show that Isaak was the director of real estate development firm Baarak United Enterprises Ltd., which had acquired and was subdividing a 20-acre parcel in Anmore.
According to the CRA release, bank and accounting records showed that construction payments and a BC Hydro refund were deposited into Isaak’s bank account but not accounted for in his general ledgers.
The agency also noted that Isaak failed to remit GST/HST funds collected from his business operations.
According to the CRA, the courts have convicted 307 people under the Income Tax Act in the last five years involving more than $134 million in evaded taxes. Between 2013 and 2018, the courts issued $37 million in fines and 2,964 months in jail.
“The CRA takes tax evasion seriously,” the agency said in a press release. “Those who do not fully comply with tax laws place an unfair burden on law-abiding taxpayers and businesses and jeopardize the integrity of Canada’s tax base.”
