Not on my account, thanks

Just learned something from a chartered professional accountant that I don’t think many Canadians who hire accountants to do their taxes (or anything else) know about:

Increasingly, when you hire a Canadian accounting firm to do your taxes, the work is likely to be done in India or Thailand or wherever by an accountant there who works for a fraction of what Canadian accountants receive.

This was news to me. I’ll bet it is to you.

When this happens, all of your pertinent financial info and sensitive personal data is being shipped out of the country, where Canadian privacy laws (regardless of whatever the Canadian firms might claim) mean diddly squat.

This doesn’t feature much in ads or commercials by accounting firms that operate in Canada. And it doesn’t appear to be restricted by any Canadian laws or regulations. Talk about a lack of transparency.

Here’s a typical pitch by one of the Indian firms to Canadian accounting companies:

https://arsarda.in/offshore-accounting-and-tax-services-canada/

To sum up: This is just ducky for the corporate owners, who get to pocket more of the skyrocketing fees you pay. Not so good for Canadian accountants, bookkeepers and their families. And certainly not ideal for anyone concerned about having their bank account suddenly drained into an untraceable offshore hidey-hole.

I’m not saying that the company highlighted here, chosen at random, is doing anything wrong. Just that this numbers game itself shouldn’t be legal.

Still. How long before the underproductive, understaffed, under-siege Canada Revenue Agency follows suit?

Because as the old adage has it, nothing is certain but death and having your taxes done in Mumbai by an anonymous someone who may or may not be competent.

Or honest.