CRA Recalibrates to Grab Its Share From Burgeoning ‘Underground Economy’

Underground economy tends to grow wherever taxes do, expert says

Construction workers in Montreal in a file photo. The Canada Revenue Agency has launched a new strategy to combat non-compliance with its taxation regime. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

The underground economy is growing but the Canada Revenue Agency has a plan of attack on neglectful and evasive taxpayers, say federal reports.

“The underground economy in 2021,“ a Statistics Canada report released Feb. 20, said the value of unreported transactions in 2021 was estimated at $68.5 billion, or 2.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter. This is a 50 percent increase over the agency’s estimated figure for 2013, which was $45.6 billion, or 2.4 percent of total GDP.