The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that Ajay Sharma of Brampton, Ontario was sentenced in the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton on April 27, 2018 to a conditional sentence of two years less a day, to three years of probation, and to a court imposed fine of $96,946.
Sharma pleaded guilty on September 25, 2017, to one count of fraud over $5,000 under the Criminal Code.Sharma is the owner and operator of tax business S&S Associates.
A CRA investigation revealed that Sharma, as owner and operator of a tax preparation business, S & S Associates, prepared 100 fraudulent individual tax returns for 37 clients for the years 2009 to 2012.
In the preparation of his clients’ tax returns, Sharma created fictitious business losses totalling $2,577,221, resulting in the evasion or attempted evasion of a total of $488,178 in federal taxes. Sharma personally benefited $96,946 from this scheme by charging his clients a percentage of the unwarranted refunds they obtained from the CRA.
His fine is proportionate to his benefits from the scheme, according to the release.
Tax evasion is not uncommon, says the CRA.
“Between April 1, 2006, and March 31, 2017, the courts convicted 55 tax preparers for tax evasion related to their tax affairs or those of their clients. The courts sentenced the tax preparers to over $4.6 million in fines and 703 months of jail time.”