News release

Revenue Minister McCallum announces the creation of 11 centres of expertise to address aggressive international tax planning

London, Ontario, August 9, 2005... John McCallum, Minister of National Revenue, today announced the creation of 11 centres of expertise across Canada in an ongoing effort to address aggressive tax planning. The announcement was made at the London Tax Services Office, where one of the centres is located.

"I am committed to ensuring a level playing field for all Canadians, and that is why I take the issue of tax havens seriously," said Minister McCallum. "The CRA is continually challenging aggressive international tax planning structures and the new Centres of Expertise will equip the CRA with even more tools to ensure that everyone is paying their required share of taxes."

The Centres of Expertise represent a new way of doing business for the CRA. By bringing together audit professionals from the areas of international tax, special audits and tax avoidance to create teams of experts, the CRA is ensuring a more coordinated approach in addressing aggressive international tax planning and the abusive use of tax havens.

Besides London, there will be Centres of Expertise located at Tax Services Offices in Laval, Halifax, Saint John, Montréal, Toronto West, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and Burnaby.

This initiative is possible as a result of an annual $30 million investment announced in the 2005 Federal Budget to enhance the CRA's compliance activities.

The CRA continues to work closely with all its partners to meet the tax compliance challenges posed by the opening of international markets.

This document is also available for download in .pdf format.

To receive notification by email when news releases are added to our Web site, you can subscribe to our electronic mailing list.

For media information