The taxman isn't usually considered the artsy type. But Canada Revenue Agency is holding a YouTube video contest to target the underground economy.
The CRA wants you to show how the underground economy affects you, your family, or your business. When people work "under the table" they don't report income or pay taxes --and that's bad.
"Because taxes pay for important things like schools, hospitals, roads, parks, it's a long list. You're paying your share and people who participate in the underground economy are doing so at your expense and that's not fair," says the narrator.
I agree with that. We honest taxpayers would all pay less if everyone paid their fair share.
And as a consumer advocate, I have to add the warning: if you get work done on your house or car and don't get a receipt or documentation, you really have no recourse if that work wasn't done well, or wasn't done at all.
I have to wonder if the point of this YouTube contest is to catch some under the table businesses.
The deadline for submissions is Apr. 30., and contest details are available on-line at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/contest/
From a report by British Columbia's Chris Olsen
