Marc-Émile Barchichat, a Montréal lawyer, sentenced to jail for failing to file an income tax return

MONTRÉAL, Feb. 6, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that Marc-Émile Barchichat, a Montréal lawyer who is well-known in the real-estate business, was found guilty on February 1^st, 2013, before the Superior Court of Quebec in Montréal, of failing to file his personal income tax return for 2007. Mr. Barchichat was present in court and he was taken to jail immediately to serve his 15-day sentence.

The Canada Revenue Agency had asked many times Mr. Barchichat to file his 2007 return, but he did not comply. On May 2, 2012, he was sentenced to a $3,000 fine and 15 days in jail. Mr. Barchichat appealed the jail sentence and the appeal was heard on February 1^st, 2013. The judge rejected Mr. Barchichat's appeal.

The above information was obtained from the court records.

When individuals or corporations are convicted of failing to file a tax return, in addition to any fine enforced by the courts, they are still obligated to file the tax return and pay the full amount of taxes owing, plus penalty and interest charged by the CRA.

Taxpayers who have not filed a return for a previous year, or who have not reported all of their income, can still voluntarily correct their tax affairs. They may not be penalized or prosecuted if they make a valid disclosure before they become aware of any compliance action being initiated by the CRA against them. These taxpayers may only have to pay the taxes owing, plus interest. More information on the Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) can be found on the CRA's Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/voluntarydisclosures.

Additional information on convictions can be found on the Media page of the CRA Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/convictions.

SOURCE: Canada Revenue Agency

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Serge Paradis
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