Calgary tax cheat fined, given house arrest

A sign outside the Canada Revenue Agency is seen Monday May 10, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) says a Calgary woman has pleaded guilty to lying to the agency and making false claims for more than 50 people over a three-year period.

Monique Van Dijk was convicted of making, or participating in the making of, false or deceptive statements in a tax return under the Income Tax Act.

As a result, Van Dijk was fined $116,000 and given a conditional sentence of 12 months' house arrest, followed by 12 months of probation.\

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According to court documents, a CRA investigation found Van Dijk filed more than 200 T1 tax returns and "change my return" requests between March 2016 and July 2019 for more than 50 people.

On those submissions, she made false statements and claims so those individuals would qualify for the Working Income Tax Benefit and other credits.

"The false and other unsupported claims resulted in the CRA paying excess refunds or refunds to which the individual taxpayers were not entitled," the CRA wrote in a release on Friday.

The agency says "cheating" on taxes in this way affects the services and programs of all Canadians.

"The CRA is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of Canada's tax system, thereby contributing to the social and economic well-being of Canadians. The CRA continues to aggressively pursue tax evasion, and false claims with all the tools available to it," it said.

More information on tax evasion and its consequences can be found online.