Where Is The Money Hidden?
By Andrew Rogerson LLB (Hons) TEP Sadly, many Statements of Financial Circumstances bear little relationship to the real picture. A self-employed spouse may run an expensive car, take many overseas trips and stay at 5 star hotels, but declare a loss on his tax return. So, you ask fifty percent of what? Forensic accounting can do much to cut through the fiction of many balance sheets. But, if the money happens to have been secreted offshore, what do you do? Or for starters, when there is a clear gap in your spouses declared assets, what may lead you to suspect that money has been sent offshore? Firstly, a word on offshore banking and tax havens. Contrary to what governments would wish us to believe, there is nothing illegal, immoral or in any way improper in keeping money offshore. And there is certainly nothing wrong in having an offshore trust. Immigrants to Canada are permitted to hold assets in an offshore trust and pay no tax on interest earned for the first 60 months of their resi
