Description: It doesn’t pay to not pay your taxes; at least not in this case. A Halifax hotelier and restaurant owner has been fined $113,223, the same amount as the sales tax he withheld from paying the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The businessman, Pantelis Panagiotis Giannoulis, will also have to repay the taxes he failed to remit to the CRA, of course, along with any interest and penalties.

Date:  January 6, 2021

Source:  ctvnews.ca

 Link: https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/halifax-businessman-fined-113-000-for-sales-tax-evasion-cra-1.5256258

Discussion points:

1) Do you think this fine will act as a deterrent to others?

2) Besides fines, what strategies can the government employ to help ensure compliance with its requirements to file taxes owing?

3) In Chapter 10 of Wiley’s Financial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision-Making we learn about how companies should account for sales taxes, like the GST. What are the standard journal entries a company should use to collect and remit sales taxes?