News Article: Canadiens wrapped up in legal tax evasion leak - Paradise Papers

[Runner77]

I guess the rest of the country structures its affairs so as to pay the most taxes possible?

And by the way, there is no such thing as "legal tax evasion". If it's legal, then it's not evasion.

Tax evasion is illegal. Tax avoidance is legal.

 

[CDN24]

Having an offshore entity is not in itself illegal or a sign of evasion of Canadian taxes (legal or otherwise). The entity closed in 2010 probably related to George Gillette's ownership. Gillette not being a Canadian resident would/could have valid reasons for offshore structure.

Molson's ownership group has many partners (some named- some not) who could be either residents of Canada or other countries who could have valid reasons fore an offshore entity. It seems some of us, media included, assume tax evasion the minute we see "offshore"

 

[Runner77]

It looks like the Canadiens are wrapped up in the "Paradise Papers" leaks.

This refers to roughly 3,300 Canadian companies, trusts, foundations and individuals whose names appear in a leak of millions of records from an offshore law firm and the corporate registries of 19 tax havens.

Basically, the Canadiens have been caught creating an offshore trust or corporation in countries where they pay little or no taxes, as a way to legally avoid — or potentially evade — paying taxes in Canada.

While this is legal, given Canada's lax corporate tax laws, it's dirty. I've been a Canadiens fan since I was a kid in the mid-70's. This is shameful. This team used to represent something, and it wasn't legal tax evasion.

Good work by the CBC and the Toronto Star (as well as an international consortium of journalists) for uncovering this. Molson needs to address this.

As the link you provided and your own post suggests, there is the likelihood of avoiding paying taxes, which is legal. The piece doesn't claim incontrovertible evidence, as it qualifies the possibility of tax evasion as by preceding it with the word "potentially".

The Canadiens's own statement on the issue opens the door to a valid defense:

The Montreal Canadiens, an Appleby client since 1980, set up two trusts in Bermuda, including an employee benefit fund that was shut down in 2010. In a statement to CBC News, the organization says its offshore business was "in full compliance with the existing Canadian tax legislation."

If that's their position, the thread title is misleading. The forum doesn't have access to all of the facts and yet it's conducting a trial and imputing intent and wrongdoing that may ultimately not be warranted. It's not up to you or anyone to substitute one's judgment for what the courts may ultimately decide, should the matter even be worthy of judicial consideration.

I think that pursuing this here is a slippery slope and opens a can of worms on several levels, including this forum for continuing to entertain this kind of speculative witch hunt that, until proven otherwise, constitutes an unwarranted attack on the Canadiens.

 

[mitchmagic]

Also what the hell is with "no ethics in business." Lack of ethics in business has lead to global warming, slavery, horrible exploitation, etc etc etc etc. We should be advocation for ethical business, production, and consumption rather than just saying: "Oh business is unethical, not much we can do about it!"

 

[Les Habitants]

They're not breaking any law. They're taking the road paved by laws and regulations. The only time you should pay tax is when you hit a wall trying to navigate the complexity of tax laws. If you find yourself out of that maze of regulations and laws then you've managed to pay the least amount allowed by your government. Bravo!

 

[Skip Bayless]

Next time the habs lose 6 in a row, this will be brought up by the media and the city will burn.

 

[scrubadam]

Can MB send the cap space to an offshore illegal tax haven?

 

[Tyson]

Doesn't make it morally or ethically right.

What is morally wrong is having your government plunder and pillage your earnings to a level this high.

 

[Tyson]

this all may sound good in your head but the reality is that this kind of attitude and culture of selfishness leads to the destruction of societies. Nothing is going to kill capitalism quicker than capitalists just as Marx predicted 160 years ago lol.

Nothing kills a society faster than having no will to push yourself because you know the government will over tax your hard work. Countries have collapsed because people simply stop producing.

 

[mitchmagic]

What is morally wrong is having your government plunder and pillage your earnings to a level this high.

Hmm? I think the rich should be taxed even more.

 

[David Suzuki]

Nothing kills a society faster than having no will to push yourself because you know the government will over tax your hard work. Countries have collapsed because people simply stop producing.

the wealthy aren't usually the ones "producing" much of anything it's the workers that produce and they collect the money at the end and divey it out at the lowest possible rate. It's ass backwards and proven to be false to believe that production starts at the top. Trickle down and libertarian economics are just astrology for men. It's fundamentalism by another name.

 

[HABitual]

Maybe if they put a better team on the ice they wouldn't be losing money.

 

[Wats]

Does this mean the tax excuse can't be used anymore since it's obvious there are many ways around it...so much so that the organization itself can do it?

 

[ColinO]

Does this mean the tax excuse can't be used anymore since it's obvious there are many ways around it...so much so that the organization itself can do it?

No.

 

[Team_Spirit]

It's legal cry me a river anyone who owns a business can relate

 

[rhinoshawarma]

Some people dont know what tax evasion is

 

[Habs]

Also what the hell is with "no ethics in business." Lack of ethics in business has lead to global warming, slavery, horrible exploitation, etc etc etc etc. We should be advocation for ethical business, production, and consumption rather than just saying: "Oh business is unethical, not much we can do about it!"

lol, you must be a fresh out of school.

 

[MXD]

lol, you must be a fresh out of school.

People who attend school tend to make factual assertions.

 

[cphabs]

Never the less. The classiest organization in professional sports has fallen.

 

[Dominator13]

If I was a hockey player, I would exploit fiscal paradises like you've never seen in your life. It's unethical, but not illegal with the right circumstances. Nobody here cares what people think of how you deal with your finances and neither do Habs players.

 

[Habs]

People who attend school tend to make factual assertions.

Yeah, because the slave trade and global warming, can all be summed up by 'a lack of business ethics', its just that simple. Your statement makes about as much sense, as his. People who attend school make about as many factual assertions as my lawyer, it all depends on the audience.

 

[Hoople]

Canadiens organization reminds me of the US Government, keep everything hush hush, don't tell the public anything....shady and slimy people

Become a Leafs fan.

 

[Hoople]

Governments need to do something. These big corporations should be paying billions more in taxes.

Here's a dirty little secret.

If the government makes corporations pay billions more in taxes, who do you think will pay those taxes?

Corporations? Or YOU?

Government regulations that result in more expenses for the corporations results in higher prices for goods and services provided by the corporations. Same with tax increases. Every tax increase is passed on to the consumer in higher prices.

Sure, it may make you FEEL good when corporations get hit with higher taxes. But...YOU, the consumer, pays for them. It's the way it is.

 

[Bieber fever]

I remember when molson bought the franchise it was a well known fact that no tax were paid . They had an article on CBC about it saying it was all legal and nobody cared at the time lol.

 

[vokiel]

What is morally wrong is having your government plunder and pillage your earnings to a level this high.

People who hold this argument just don't get it. The reason why taxation on the small guys is high is because taxation on the money making industry is failing. At the root of it if a government can not levy on the highest economical activities, it just falls into corruption, exploitation and various other predatory practices on its population.

The fact that other shady corporations do it does not excuse the Montreal Canadiens or even justifies their actions. As a hole all this is making them look like is a bunch of f***ing hypocrites. Think this through carefully, next time dipshit Molson shows up to kiss babies at his next community event.