The CRA suspects some people in Vancouver might not be paying tax on all world-wide income and are going to be taking an extra hard look at big spenders who aren’t big tax-payers.

Over at the Globe and Mail Christine Duhaime a lawyer who focuses on financial crimes explains how it works:

“They all follow what we call the same typology. … They all want an expensive Lamborghini or a Ferrari, they want a really expensive house, they send their kids to the most expensive private schools they can get in Vancouver,” she said. “So when you try to find money launderers, that’s what you look for. Who went to the Ferrari shop? And that’s what they mean by the ‘lifestyle audit.’”

Ms. Duhaime said while many people think of money laundering as something done by drug dealers, in fact the activity is more often associated with white-collar crime and usually involves tax evasion.

Will going after tax cheats have any effect on the overinflated housing market in Vancouver?  Read the original article here.