Canada's British Columbia to improve data collection to tackle tax evasion

Canada's western province of British Columbia will unveil new measures to improve the collection of real estate transaction data in hopes of avoiding tax evasion, the province's finance minister said on Monday.

The measures will be announced Tuesday and the new data will be shared with the Canada Revenue Agency, Mike de Jong said when unveiling the provincial budget.

"The vast majority of Canadians and British Columbians, I believe, will pay their taxes and understand the services that are dependent on that," he said in a statement.

The taxation system is rooted in the principle that people report their information accurately, and when that doesn't occur, an enforcement mechanism should be put in place, he said.

The province has already adopted some protocols regarding the sharing of tax-related information, but the official said more efforts should be made to improve the province's data collection practices. Endi