Poilievre promises to raise up to $1B by cracking down on offshore tax havens

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to crack down on the use of offshore tax havens and recover as much as $1 billion a year in lost revenues. 

In a video posted on X, Poilievre said the money recovered through the initiative would be used to help pay for his plan to introduce a $14-billion income tax cut by reducing the rate in the lowest tax bracket from 15 per cent to 12.75 per cent. 

"You can't avoid your taxes. Global elites should not be able to either, and that is why I will end the Liberal two-tier tax system," Poilievre said during a campaign stop in Edmonton on Tuesday. 

The plan to crack down on tax havens has four main planks.

Poilievre previously announced that he would create a tax task force of experts who would review Canada's tax laws and rewrite the rules to make them simpler, fairer and easier to administer.

On Tuesday the Conservative leader said the first plank of his plan would see him direct that task force to find ways to close loopholes that allow companies to "stash their money away in tax havens and avoid paying their fair share here in Canada."

Poilievre said he will also redirect Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) resources away from "harassing and auditing innocent small business owners" and toward cracking down on offshore tax havens.

He also said he would expand Canada's Offshore Tax Informant Program, under which the CRA can offer financial rewards for information that uncovers major international tax dodgers and leads to the recovery of money owed. 

Poilievre's proposed expansion of the program would give whistleblowers up to 20 per cent of the recovered funds when they help expose illegal tax schemes.

The final plank calls for the creation of a "name and shame publication to expose all the wealthy multinational corporations that are dodging taxes and are refusing to pay their fair share." 

Targeting Carney

In the video detailing the plan, Poilievre accused Liberal Leader Mark Carney of hiding "his company cash in Bermuda to avoid Canadian taxes."

"While he was advising Trudeau to raise your taxes, he made sure that his own funds were stashed safely offshore and out of reach," Poilievre said.

Radio-Canada previously reported that while Carney was on the board of Brookfield Asset Management, he co-chaired two investments funds dedicated to the transition to a net-zero carbon economy and worth a total of $25 billion.

Those funds were registered in Bermuda among other locations, allowing investors to benefit from significant tax advantages, according to information obtained by Radio-Canada.

Last month, Carney said the structure of the funds is "designed to benefit the Canadian pension funds that invest in them," citing the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which manages Quebec's public pensions, and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.

The taxes are paid in Canada, Carney added, because the "flow-through of the funds go to Canadian entities who pay the taxes appropriately, as opposed to taxes being paid multiple times before they get there."

Asked about whether he supports the use of tax havens during a campaign stop in Delta, B.C., on Tuesday, Carney said he will review Canada's tax system to ensure companies are paying what they owe.

"What's important is that we have an effective tax system and that companies, every company, follows the rules to, not just the letter, but the spirit of those regulations," Carney said.

"We need to continue to refine our tax system to ensure that companies are paying their fair share of tax."

Singh's tax haven pitch

Cracking down on offshore tax havens is a long-held policy plank for the NDP. 

Last week NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh unveiled his party's pitch to "stop billionaires and big corporations" from dodging taxes through offshore havens. 

Singh said if he becomes prime minister, he would end tax agreements with known tax havens like Bermuda, and require Canadian corporations to prove a "genuine business reason for offshore accounts."

He said he would also launch a review of the tax code similar to Poilievre's task force that would close loopholes allowing corporations to avoid paying taxes. 

"While billionaires hide their wealth and Conservative and Liberal governments look the other way, everyday Canadians are left paying the price," said Singh.