Alberta home developer sentenced and fined for tax evasion

Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) national headquarters in Ottawa on Friday, June 28, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

An Alberta man has been sentenced and fined following a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) investigation that found he failed to report more than $1 million on his personal tax returns.

The CRA says Richard Paolini, a resident of Heritage Pointe, a hamlet south of Calgary, was sentenced on Aug. 15 after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion under the Income Tax Act and one count of tax evasion under the Excise Tax Act.

As a result, Paolini was given an 18-month conditional sentence and was fined $197,772.50

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Paolini, the sole director and shareholder of a residential construction business known as Inner City Homes, failed to report money acquired by the business for his personal use.

He also failed to report rental income and capital gains from the sale of properties and investments.

“In total, Paolini failed to report $1,080,180.00 in taxable income on his personal tax returns, evading a total of $299,943.00 in federal income tax for the 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020 tax years,” the CRA said in a news release on Monday.

In addition to the sentence and fine, the CRA says Paolini will need to repay the total amount of tax owed.

“The CRA is committed to fighting tax evasion, tax fraud, and other serious tax crimes. There are serious consequences to breaking the law. Cheating on your taxes affects the services and programs we all rely on to improve our quality of life.”