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加拿大的公司也象国内的公司一样要每年报税,但有一个地方不同的是,加拿大的公司如果多缴了税,税务局在返还时是要加上利息的。这从另一方面也督促税务局尽快返还多缴税款。) P! l G9 ~+ P( R
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但最近金融危机,各国利率争相走低,结果在加拿大竟然闹出了一件特别有趣的事。
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* A. ]: S5 T; t( H1 f: _1 K( T本周三加拿大一个大型全国性报纸《环球邮报》有如下报道,我略作翻译:
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# R9 d% J; [% f2 a* z加拿大税务局成为最佳投资对象
9 f o% a2 Z9 p+ P8 ^9 J) Y以往人们最不喜欢放钱的地方就是税务局了,但有数十家公司却把税务局当作最佳存款对象,至少他们从多付给税务局的税款上赢得了超出市场利率的回报。
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% o; G: Q: ]. |每当税务局试图归还这些公司多缴的税款时,这些公司总是设置重重障碍,不愿放弃这看起来象是短期投资的最佳平衡点——直到昨天总审计长FRASER女士提出了警告,说政府现在陷入了圈套,有高达9000万加元的本不应发生的利息费用。
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在昨天的最新季报中,总审计长揭示说加拿大税务局在最近三年里发生的额外利息费用急剧增长,这些费用都发生在大量的公司多缴税款上。& L: v; i! ^# K- I
3 l9 r2 [, g$ s& \ M) j2 @- K3 J税务人员试图返还这些多缴税款,但成效有限。
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大约50家公司占据了40亿加元多缴税款中的三分之二。总审计长认为这些公司是故意不接收税款返还,好赚取额外利息。例如,2008年12月,税务局为多缴税款设定的返还利率是5%,而同期90天国库券平均利率仅1%多一点;现在返还利率降到3%但同期90天国库券利率也降到低于0.2%了!!!8 [' a( o0 O( k
' K6 W' a- w" l7 @, x4 j S1 U3 H这期春季审计报告也显示平常国防部总是叫穷,但他们去年却因为错计了库存现金而丧失了3亿加元。(这个也够猛的!)
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( Z! w$ C' T* m% y0 M总审计长开玩笑说这个通过多缴税款而赚取额外利息的消息会刺激不少公司赶快多缴税款了!
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7 E+ M' h6 n+ K5 U, H4 _' m但税务总长让·皮埃尔·布莱克本昨天说政府会尽快采取措施以堵住这个漏洞。他说提供高额利息回报当然不是税务局的目标。+ ~. V, z/ F% M( ~- L$ L
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; E3 V# {* ^ L% tThe best investment going? Revenue Canada
! ]3 w( K0 {( b8 Y. kSTEVEN CHASE AND BILL CURRY
( h8 }3 X7 M3 sFrom Wednesday's Globe and Mail
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$ {/ O; R6 V4 {5 rOTTAWA — It's perhaps the unlikeliest place to park your money but Canada Revenue Agency has turned out to be just the ticket for dozens of companies that, recently at least, have been earning better-than-market rates on tax overpayments.
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Corporations have balked when the taxman tried to refund the money, refusing to part with what seemed like a short-term investment sweet spot - at least until Auditor-General Sheila Fraser blew the whistle yesterday, saying Ottawa is now on the hook for $90-million in "unnecessary interest costs."
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* c" `/ U R/ I4 q3 d. z! HIn her latest quarterly report, Ms. Fraser revealed yesterday that Canada Revenue Agency has run up this bill over three years by paying premium interest rates on what her office said were unnecessary amounts of corporate tax overpayments.
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; B' [9 ?* Z# E3 _. t5 {# C$ [* s. {The tax collector has tried to return these overpayments "with limited success" to companies that are not identified in the audit. ( y L$ X, T' x3 ?* |4 R# r6 O
7 w1 {& }& ]# H0 u5 D. Q" ~About 50 firms account for two-thirds of the $4-billion in overpayments on deposit - and it was their accounts that were audited.9 u# L6 r( a _6 Z: R# d
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Ms. Fraser suggested these companies are intentionally balking at refunds of the money because they are earning premium interest rates. For instance, the Canada Revenue Agency noted its overpayment interest rate for December, 2008, was 5 per cent, but the average 90-day treasury-bill rate that month was just over 1 per cent.8 b) ?: {' ^! v/ L8 a2 l# k
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Today the overpayment rate is 3 per cent while the average 90-day T-bill rate in May is less than 0.2 per cent.
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Ms. Fraser's spring, 2009, report also revealed that the Department of National Defence, which regularly complains about a lack of resources, had to forfeit more than $300-million in funding last year because it miscounted its cash on hand.
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* J5 E& K& x c5 B2 UMs. Fraser's office said it believes Canada Revenue Agency is not required by law to retain tax overpayments if it determines they are not needed to cover a potential reassessment.; U' C0 u" N9 S5 l+ n: q
/ W3 J& j( C) ?- R3 k) y5 `The Auditor-General herself joked that news of this premium overpayment rate might prompt other companies to start filing extra sums. 7 Z& P! | c0 {/ p
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"I sort of wonder if the report today will perhaps generate an influx of cash into the Canada Revenue Agency." : _0 B0 x* W$ z) c% E
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But Revenue Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said yesterday the government will find a way to close the loophole identified by Ms. Fraser.
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"I don't think the revenue agency's objective is to give higher interest rates than what you would expect to see in, say, a financial institution," he said. "I've certainly asked people in my ministry to do what it takes to fix this because it's like there's a hole in the law that allows people to profit from this situation by finding higher interest rates than they would normally obtain."$ U) x) ~. g0 U* j/ G
. ~( @# O1 q8 `$ C* ?for details, please click the following link:# K9 A$ C4 ]# J2 i. p- E
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http://ago.mobile.globeandmail.c ... ditor13art2232.html1 u( Q+ {0 a$ @
- g! `* L& P; c+ ABill Curry and Steven Chase |
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