CRA has identified more than $76 million in unpaid taxes from Panama, Paradise papers leaks

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has identified more than $76 million in taxes owed by Canadians named in the Panama and Paradise Papers leaks of offshore accounts. But the agency can't — or won't — say whether it has collected a cent of it.

A year after the massive leak of the Pandora Papers — which led to investigations and legislative changes in several countries around the world — the CRA says its "compliance action" is still in progress and it can't say how many, if any, Canadians named in the papers are being audited or investigated.

Opposition critics say the new information shows the CRA needs to do a better job of cracking down on tax evasion and tax avoidance by wealthy Canadians.

"I would say the answers from the CRA are shocking," said NDP revenue critic Niki Ashton. "It really speaks to the way in which the Canadian government ... is not going after the ultra-rich who are getting away with tax evasion and avoiding their taxes."

"We have to ask ourselves, what is it that's driving either a lack of action or a lack of significant progress at CRA on these files?" said Conservative MP Adam Chambers. "Because we are much further behind our peers and this is about making Canadians and taxpayers pay their fair share."

In 2016, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which includes CBC, sent shockwaves around the world by releasing the Panama Papers. The documents shed new light on the secretive world of offshore tax havens used by some of the world's wealthiest individuals, often to hide assets or reduce their tax bills.

The news stories based on the leak of more than 11.5 million documents from the former Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca have led to resignations, criminal investigations and the collection of more than $1.7 billion in taxes around the world.

In 2017, the ICIJ launched the Paradise Papers — stories published around the world based on 13.4 million leaked documents. The Pandora Papers, based on 11.9 million leaked documents from 14 offshore service providers, were published in October 2021.

In its response to questions placed on the House of Commons order paper and to questions asked by CBC News, the CRA said it will take time to look into the information contained in the ICIJ leaks.

"Although some taxpayers have cooperated with the CRA, the audit work will take several years to complete as many taxpayers resist complying with the requirement to provide access to books and records and are using litigation in the courts to obstruct Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) audits," the agency wrote in an e-mail to CBC.

"As a result, these audits can be time-consuming and complex."

The CRA said the initial information-gathering and data analysis for the Panama Papers alone took three years, "as many of the initially purported links to Canada did not ultimately point to Canadian taxpayers."

The CRA said that as of Aug. 26, it has completed 265 audits related to the Panama Papers which have identified $75 million in unpaid taxes. Over 150 audits are still in progress. The Paradise Papers have led to 106 completed audits that have identified $1.6 million in unpaid taxes, with over 25 audits still ongoing, the CRA said.

That's more than three times the amount of unpaid taxes previously made public by the CRA.