Cam Fortems – Kamloops This Week
Tax time for a Barriere small business owner got a little more expensive after the Canada Revenue Agency went after him for failing to file returns for nearly a decade.
Provincial court judge Roy Dickey fined Thomas Lawford Mitchell $1,000 for failure to comply with an order from the federal agency.
Crown prosecutor Anthony Varesi said the taxman caught up to Mitchell, 60, in 2014. The survey company owner failed to file a T-1 return between 2005 and 2012.
Varesi said Mitchell claimed he did not file his taxes due to health concerns and the fact he was frequently out of the country.
The CRA went to Mitchell’s home in 2014, serving him with an order file his statements of income. While Mitchell filed for the years between 2005 and 2009, he did not meet a November deadline for outstanding years of 2010 to 2012.
Last month, Mitchell was charged under the Income Tax Act for failing to comply with an order. Varesi said he has since caught up on the missing tax years.
The small business owner said his income is limited and asked for time to pay the fine. He was hit with a $22,000 tax bill as part of the recent filings.
“I’m on a very tight budget,” Mitchell told Dickey.
