SmartLiving by Smartcentres . The underground economy evades billions of dollars in taxes every year. The most important part of Canada’s underground economy is the residential construction industry, which accounts for 26.2%, which is equivalent to 16 billion yuan in income from economic activities.Please Visit: SmartLiving by Smartcentres to Get Your VVIP Registration Today!
The underground economy of the Canadian construction industry “steals” billions of dollars from Canadian taxpayers every year. The meeting called on the community and the public to stand up and speak out now.
The United Union of Carpenters (United Brotherhood of Carpenters) announced the launch of a four-day “2021 tax Fraud Day” campaign from yesterday to raise public awareness of tax fraud in the construction industry.
Citing data from Statistics Canada, the association pointed out that the income of Canada’s underground economy in economic activity in 2018 was as high as 61.2 billion yuan. The most important part of Canada’s underground economy in 2018 came from the residential construction industry, accounting for 26.2%, or 16 billion yuan.
The association also pointed out that, had it not been for the loss, the huge amount of tax revenue could have been used to build roads, schools, take care of veterans and fund other important public projects.
Jason Rowe, vice president of the Canadian region of the Carpenter Union, said: “the underground economy is booming in Canada, especially in the construction industry, stealing billions of dollars in tax revenue every year. Tax fraud is depriving honest and hardworking Canadians and their families of (public) services. ”
Communities also suffer because the government lacks tax funds to carry out important projects and infrastructure.
The association said that there are dishonest employers in the construction industry who deliberately classify workers improperly as “independent contractors” or settle in cash to ensure that workers do not appear on the employer’s wage record. these workers are also not protected by unemployment insurance benefits. As a result, dishonest enterprises can greatly reduce their corporate income tax and evade their legal obligations.
When employers transfer their tax burden to employees, employees will have to pay their employer’s employment tax (employment taxes). This will impose a heavy financial burden on working families.
Tax fraud in the construction industry is also bad for law-abiding construction companies because they cannot compete with the labor costs of their peers suspected of fraud.
Mr Lowe added: “the United Carpenter Union, which is distributed across the United States and Canada, is working with honest contractors and community stakeholders to help law-abiding construction workers level the playing field by exposing the existence of the underground economy and those who engage in such illegal activities. The union is also discussing with the government and law enforcement agencies to take response.