Harjinder Dhudwal of Surrey was sentenced on August 30, 2017, in the Provincial Court of British Columbia, to a Conditional Sentence Order of 15 months and a fine totalling $129,750, after pleading guilty to income tax evasion under the Income Tax Act.

SURREY –An Indo-Canadian man from Surrey has been sentenced for tax evasion on failing to disclose real estate and rental income.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said this week that Harjinder Dhudwal of Surrey, British Columbia, was sentenced on August 30, 2017, in the Provincial Court of British Columbia, to a Conditional Sentence Order of 15 months and a fine totalling $129,750, after pleading guilty to income tax evasion under the Income Tax Act.

A CRA investigation revealed that, Dhudwal willfully contravened the Income Tax Act by failing to report business income and taxable capital gains earned from buying and selling real estate in the Greater Vancouver area on his 2007 to 2011 personal income tax returns.

 Dhudwal also failed to report rental income earned from his properties for the 2007 to 2011 tax years.

The preceding information was obtained from the court records.

When taxpayers are convicted of income tax evasion, they must still repay the full amount of taxes owing, plus interest and any civil penalties that may be assessed by the CRA. In addition, the court may fine them up to 200% of the taxes evaded and impose a jail term of up to five years.

The CRA regularly monitors tax compliance in real estate transactions. During the period of April 2015 to June 2017, the CRA applied penalties totalling $23.1 million on unreported income from real estate transactions. The highest penalty was almost $2.5 million. In the same period, audit activities in British Columbia focusing on real estate recovered $78.6 million in tax revenue. Details of the CRA’s audit activities can be found at: How does the Canada Revenue Agency address non-compliance in the real estate sector?

If you have ever made a tax mistake or omission, the CRA is offering you a second chance to make things right through its Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP). If you make a valid disclosure before you become aware that the CRA is taking action against you, you may only have to pay the taxes owing plus interest. More information on the VDP can be found on the CRA's website at www.cra.gc.ca/voluntarydisclosures.

Further information on convictions can also be found in the Media room on the CRA website at https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/criminal-investigations-actions-charges-convictions.html.