Tax Evasion as a Designated Offence

December 2010

  • Reporting entities must report to FINTRAC when they have reasonable grounds to suspect a transaction is related to a “money laundering offence”.
  • A “money laundering offence” means hiding or moving proceeds that were obtained from the commission of a designated offence. A designated offence means most serious offences under the Criminal Code or any other federal Act.
  • Tax evasion became a “designated offence” on July 12, 2010. This means that, in the context of money laundering, it is just like drug trafficking, fraud and almost every other serious offence.
  • As a consequence, laundering the proceeds of tax evasion is now a “money laundering offence”, and suspicions of such laundering must now be reported to FINTRAC.
  1. As a reporting entity, when should I report suspicious transactions to FINTRAC?

    Reporting entities have to report completed or attempted transactions if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the transactions are related to the commission or attempted commission of a money laundering offence or a terrorist activity financing offence.

  2. What changes for reporting entities now that tax evasion is a designated offence?

    It means that if a reporting entity suspects that a transaction relates to laundering money received as a result of tax evasion, they must report those suspicions to FINTRAC. This is the same as reporting suspicions of laundering money received from selling drugs or from any another criminal activity.

  3. As a reporting entity, when should I report to FINTRAC in respect of tax evasion?

    You should report to FINTRAC when you suspect that a transaction is related to laundering money that was received from tax evasion.

  4. What indicators should I use?

    You should use the same indicators you use for any other type of money laundering. These indicators can be found in Guideline 2: Suspicious Transactions, available on FINTRAC's Web site.

For more information

If you have any questions about tax evasion or any other questions concerning tax, contact the Canada Revenue Agency (www.cra-arc.gc.ca).