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Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1 (S.C. 2014, c. 20)

Assented to 2014-06-19

PART 1AMENDMENTS TO THE INCOME TAX ACT AND TO RELATED LEGISLATION

R.S., c. 1 (5th Supp.)Income Tax Act

 Subsection 212(1) of the Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (v), by adding “or” at the end of paragraph (w) and by adding the following after paragraph (w):

  • Marginal note:Tax informant program

    (x) a payment of an amount described in paragraph 56(1)(z.4).

 The portion of subsection 238(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Offences and punishment
  • 238. (1) Every person who has failed to file or make a return as and when required by or under this Act or a regulation or who has failed to comply with subsection 116(3), 127(3.1) or (3.2), 147.1(7) or 153(1), any of sections 230 to 232, 244.7 and 267 or a regulation made under subsection 147.1(18) or with an order made under subsection (2) is guilty of an offence and, in addition to any penalty otherwise provided, is liable on summary conviction to

  •  (1) Paragraph 241(4)(d) of the Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of subparagraph (xiii), by adding “or” at the end of subparagraph (xiv) and by adding the following after subparagraph (xiv):

  • (2) Subsection 241(4) of the Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (p) and by adding the following after paragraph (q):

    • (r) provide taxpayer information to a person who has  —  under a program administered by the Canada Revenue Agency to obtain information relating to tax non-compli­ance  —  entered into a contract to provide information to the Canada Revenue Agency, to the extent necessary to inform the person of any amount they may be entitled to under the contract and of the status of their claim under the contract; or

    • (s) provide taxpayer information, solely for the purpose of ensuring compliance with Part 1 of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, to an official of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, if the information

      • (i) can reasonably be considered to be relevant to a determination of whether a reporting entity (as defined in section 244.1) has complied with a duty or obligation under Part XV.1, and

      • (ii) does not directly or indirectly reveal the identity of a client (as defined in section 244.1).

  • (3) Section 241 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (9.4):

    • Marginal note:Serious offences

      (9.5) An official may provide to a law enforcement officer of an appropriate police organization

      • (a) taxpayer information, if the official has reasonable grounds to believe that the information will afford evidence of an act or omission in or outside of Canada that, if committed in Canada, would be

        • (i) an offence under any of

        • (ii) a terrorism offence or a criminal organization offence, as those terms are defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, for which the maximum term of imprisonment is 10 years or more, or

        • (iii) an offence

          • (A) that is punishable by a minimum term of imprisonment,

          • (B) for which the maximum term of imprisonment is 14 years or life, or

          • (C) for which the maximum term of imprisonment is 10 years and that

            • (I) resulted in bodily harm,

            • (II) involved the import, export, trafficking or production of drugs, or

            • (III) involved the use of a weapon; and

      • (b) information setting out the reasonable grounds referred to in paragraph (a), to the extent that any such grounds rely on information referred to in that paragraph.

  •  (1) The Act is amended by adding the following after Part XV:

    PART XV.1REPORTING OF ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER

    Marginal note:Definitions

    244.1 The following definitions apply in this Part.

    “cash”

    « espèces »

    “cash” means coins referred to in section 7 of the Currency Act, notes issued by the Bank of Canada pursuant to the Bank of Canada Act that are intended for circulation in Canada or coins or bank notes of countries other than Canada.

    “casino”

    « casino »

    “casino” means an entity that is licensed, registered, permitted or otherwise authorized to do business under any of paragraphs 207(1)(a) to (g) of the Criminal Code and that conducts its business activities in a permanent establishment

    • (a) that the entity holds out to be a casino and in which roulette or card games are carried on; or

    • (b) where there is a slot machine, which, for the purposes of this definition, does not include a video lottery terminal.

    A casino does not include an entity that is a registered charity and is licensed, registered, permitted or otherwise authorized to carry on business temporarily for charitable purposes, if the business is carried out in the establishment of the casino for not more than two consecutive days at a time under the supervision of the casino.

    “client”

    « client »

    “client” means a particular entity that engages in a financial transaction or activity with a reporting entity and includes an entity on whose behalf the particular entity is acting.

    “credit union central”

    « centrale de caisses de crédit »

    “credit union central” means a central cooperative credit society, as defined in section 2 of the Cooperative Credit Associations Act, or a credit union central or a federation of credit unions or caisses populaires that is regulated by a provincial Act other than one enacted by the legislature of Quebec.

    “electronic funds transfer”

    « télévirement »

    “electronic funds transfer” means the transmission  —  through any electronic, magnetic or optical device, telephone instrument or computer  —  of instructions for the transfer of funds, other than the transfer of funds within Canada. In the case of Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication messages, only SWIFT MT 103 messages are included.

    “entity”

    « entité »

    “entity” means an individual, a body corporate, a partnership, a fund or an unincorporated association or organization.

    “funds”

    « fonds »

    “funds” means cash, currency or securities, or negotiable instruments or other financial instruments, in any form, that indicate an entity’s title or interest, or for civil law a right, in them.

    “money services business”

    « entreprise de transfert de fonds ou de vente de titres négociables »

    “money services business” means an entity engaged in the business of foreign exchange dealing, of remitting funds or transmitting funds by any means or through any entity or electronic funds transfer network, or of issuing or redeeming money orders, traveller’s cheques or other similar negotiable instruments except for cheques payable to a named entity.

    “reporting entity”

    « entité déclarante »

    “reporting entity” means an entity that is

    • (a) an authorized foreign bank within the meaning of section 2 of the Bank Act in respect of its business in Canada, or a bank to which that Act applies;

    • (b) a cooperative credit society, savings and credit union or caisse populaire regulated by a provincial Act;

    • (c) a financial services cooperative regulated by An Act respecting financial services cooperatives, R.S.Q., c. C-67.3, or An Act respecting the Mouvement Desjardins, S.Q. 2000, c. 77;

    • (d) an association regulated by the Cooperative Credit Associations Act;

    • (e) a company to which the Trust and Loan Companies Act applies;

    • (f) a trust company regulated by a provincial Act;

    • (g) a loan company regulated by a provincial Act;

    • (h) a money services business;

    • (i) a casino, including a casino owned or controlled by Her Majesty;

    • (j) a department or an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada or of a province that is engaged in the business of accepting deposit liabilities in the course of providing financial services to the public; or

    • (k) a credit union central in respect of financial services it offers to an entity, other than an entity that is referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (g) and (j) and is a member of that credit union central.

    Marginal note:Electronic funds transfer
    • 244.2 (1) Every reporting entity shall file with the Minister an information return in prescribed form in respect of

      • (a) the sending out of Canada, at the request of a client, of an electronic funds transfer of $10,000 or more in the course of a single transaction; or

      • (b) the receipt from outside Canada of an electronic funds transfer, sent at the request of a client, of $10,000 or more in the course of a single transaction.

    • Marginal note:Transfer within Canada

      (2) For greater certainty and subject to subsection (3), subsection (1) does not apply to a reporting entity in respect of an electronic funds transfer if the entity

      • (a) sends the transfer to an entity in Canada, even if the final recipient is outside Canada; or

      • (b) receives the transfer from an entity in Canada, even if the initial sender is outside Canada.

    • Marginal note:Intermediary

      (3) Subsection (1) applies to a reporting entity in respect of an electronic funds transfer if the entity

      • (a) orders another reporting entity to send, at the request of a client, the transfer out of Canada, unless it provides the other reporting entity with the name and address of the client; or

      • (b) receives the transfer for a beneficiary in Canada from another reporting entity in circumstances where the initial sender is outside Canada, unless the transfer contains the name and address of the beneficiary.

    • Marginal note:Transfer conducted by agent

      (4) If a particular reporting entity is an agent of or is authorized to act on behalf of another reporting entity in respect of an electronic funds transfer, subsection (1) applies, in respect of the transfer, to the other reporting entity and not to the particular reporting entity.

    Marginal note:Casino

    244.3 An electronic funds transfer in respect of which subsection 244.2(1) applies that occurs in the course of a business, temporarily conducted for charitable purposes in the establishment of a casino by a registered charity carried on for not more than two consecutive days at a time under the supervision of the casino, shall be reported by the supervising casino.

    Marginal note:Single transaction
    • 244.4 (1) For the purposes of this Part, two or more electronic funds transfers of less than $10,000 each that are made within 24 consecutive hours and that total $10,000 or more are considered to be made in the course of a single transaction of $10,000 or more if

      • (a) an individual, other than a trust, who is a reporting entity knows that the transfers are conducted by, or on behalf of, the same entity; and

      • (b) an employee of a reporting entity, other than an entity described in paragraph (a), knows that the transfers are conducted by, or on behalf of, the same entity.

    • Marginal note:Exception

      (2) For greater certainty, subsection (1) does not apply in respect of an electronic funds transfer sent to two or more beneficiaries if the transfer is requested by

      • (a) an administrator of a pension fund that is regulated by or under an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province;

      • (b) a department or agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada or of a province;

      • (c) an incorporated city, town, village, metropolitan authority, township, district, county, rural municipality or other incorporated municipal body or an agent of any of them;

      • (d) an organization that operates a public hospital and that is designated by the Minister as a hospital authority under the Excise Tax Act, or an agent of such an organization; or

      • (e) a corporation that has minimum net assets of $75 million on its last audited balance sheet, whose shares are traded on a Canadian stock exchange or a designated stock exchange and that operates in a country that is a member of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering established in 1989.

    Marginal note:Foreign currency

    244.5 If an electronic funds transfer is carried out by a reporting entity in a foreign currency, the amount of the transfer is to be converted into Canadian dollars using

    • (a) the official conversion rate of the Bank of Canada for the currency published in the Bank of Canada’s Daily Memorandum of Exchange Rates that is in effect at the time of the transfer; or

    • (b) if no official conversion rate is set out in that publication for the currency, the conversion rate that the entity would use for the currency in the normal course of business at the time of the transfer.

    Marginal note:Filing of return

    244.6 An information return in respect of an electronic funds transfer that is required to be filed by a reporting entity under this Part shall be filed

    • (a) not later than five working days after the day of the transfer; and

    • (b) using electronic media, in the manner specified by the Minister, if the entity has the technical capabilities to do so.

    Marginal note:Record keeping
    • 244.7 (1) Every reporting entity that is required to file an information return under this Part shall keep such records as will enable the Minister to determine whether the entity has complied with its duties and obligations under this Part.

    • Marginal note:Form of records

      (2) A record that is required to be kept under this Part may be kept in machine-readable or electronic form if a paper copy can be readily produced from it.

    • Marginal note:Retention of records

      (3) A reporting entity that is required to keep records under this Part in respect of an electronic funds transfer shall retain those records for a period of at least five years from the day of the transfer.

  • (2) Subsection (1) applies in respect of electronic funds transfers made after 2014.

  • (3) If subsection 256(3) comes into force, then on the later of January 1, 2015 and the day on which that subsection comes into force, the definition “casino” in section 244.1 of the Act, as enacted by subsection (1), is replaced by the following:

    “casino”

    « casino »

    “casino” means

    • (a) the government of a province that, in accordance with paragraph 207(1)(a) of the Criminal Code,

      • (i) in a permanent establishment that is held out to be a casino, conducts and manages a lottery scheme that includes games of roulette or card games, or

      • (ii) in any other permanent establishment, conducts and manages games that are operated on or through a slot machine, as defined in subsection 198(3) of that Act, or any other similar electronic gaming device, if there are more than 50 of those machines or other devices in the establishment;

    • (b) the government of a province that, in accordance with paragraph 207(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, conducts and manages a lottery scheme, other than bingo or the sale of lottery tickets, that is accessible to the public through the Internet or other digital network, except if the network is an internal network within an establishment referred to in subparagraph (a)(ii);

    • (c) an organization that, in accordance with paragraph 207(1)(b) of the Criminal Code, in a permanent establishment that is held out to be a casino, conducts and manages a lottery scheme that includes games of roulette or card games, unless the organization is a registered charity and the lottery scheme is conducted or managed for a period of not more than two consecutive days at a time; and

    • (d) the board of a fair or of an exhibition, or the operator of a concession leased by such a board, that, in accordance with paragraph 207(1)(c) of the Criminal Code, in a permanent establishment that is held out to be a casino, conducts and manages a lottery scheme that includes games of roulette or card games.

  • (4) If subsection 256(2) comes into force, then on the later of January 1, 2015 and the day on which that subsection comes into force,

    • (a) the definition “money services business” in section 244.1 of the Act, as enacted by subsection (1), is replaced by the following:

      “money services business”

      « entreprise de transfert de fonds ou de vente de titres négociables »

      “money services business” means an entity

      • (a) that has a place of business in Canada and that is engaged in the business of providing at least one of the following services:

        • (i) foreign exchange dealing,

        • (ii) remitting funds or transmitting funds by any means or through any entity or electronic funds transfer network,

        • (iii) issuing or redeeming money orders, traveller’s cheques or other similar negotiable instruments except for cheques payable to a named entity,

        • (iv) dealing in virtual currencies, as defined by regulation, or

        • (v) a prescribed service; or

      • (b) that does not have a place of business in Canada, that is engaged in the business of providing at least one of the following services that is directed at entities in Canada, and that provides those services to their customers in Canada:

        • (i) foreign exchange dealing,

        • (ii) remitting funds or transmitting funds by any means or through any entity or electronic funds transfer network,

        • (iii) issuing or redeeming money orders, traveller’s cheques or other similar negotiable instruments except for cheques payable to a named entity,

        • (iv) dealing in virtual currencies, as defined by regulation, or

        • (v) a prescribed service.

    • (b) section 244.2 of the Act, as enacted by subsection (1), is amended by adding the following after subsection (4):

      • Marginal note:Entities outside Canada

        (5) Subsection (1) does not apply to an entity described in paragraph (b) of the definition “money services business” in respect of the services it provides to entities outside Canada.

 

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