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ARTICLE · 26 SEPTEMBER 2025

What You Missed In Budget 2024: Expanded CRA Audit Powers And Penalties

Miller Thomson
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When Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unveiled the 2024 budget to the House of Commons (the "2024 Budget") on April 16, 2024, the spotlight was firmly on the government's intention to increase the inclusion rate on capital gains.

CanadaTax
Marie-Hélène Tremblay
Marie-Hélène Tremblay
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When Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unveiled the 2024 budget to the House of Commons (the "2024 Budget") on April 16, 2024, the spotlight was firmly on the government's intention to increase the inclusion rate on capital gains. Yet tucked away in the fine print were some of the most consequential tax enforcement changes in years – proposals to give the Canada Revenue Agency (the "CRA") significantly expanded audit powers and new tools to penalize non-compliance.

These measures, rooted in concerns first raised by the Auditor General in 2018 about delays in taxpayer disclosures, aim to close long-standing gaps in the CRA's ability to obtain timely information. For individuals and businesses, however, the implications are clear: more aggressive compliance obligations, higher penalties, and an audit process with a broader reach than ever before.

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