OTTAWA: The Canada Revenue Agency has begun to record the fingerprints of every person charged with tax evasion, a move that could severely restrict foreign travel for anyone accused but not necessarily convicted of a criminal tax offence. “Introducing a mandatory fingerprinting policy would serve as a powerful deterrent to those considering committing a serious tax offence or those who may contemplate reoffending,” says an internal memorandum justifying the new measure. “The mobility restriction is an important deterrent, especially for people engaged in offshore tax evasion.” The agency changed its policy manuals last fall to implement mandatory fingerprinting following years of inconsistent fingerprint collection based on the varying advice of local prosecutors.
The new policy means the fingerprints of all accused tax evaders will be recorded in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database, accessible by almost 70,000 Canadian police officers but also by some foreign agencies such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its border officers. As the memo notes, U.S. officials checking the CPIC database “may view a taxpayer charged and/or convicted for tax evasion as inadmissible to their country.” CBC News obtained a copy of the memo, and the July 7 order authorizing the new policy, under the Access to Information Act, with several sections blacked out under security and advice exemptions.