Nothing is certain except death and taxes.
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Benjamin Franklin
The tax lawyer learned another certainty that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will get what’s coming to them even if your name is Philippe DioGuardi and you have a radio advertising campaign with slogans that include:
- “I don’t cheat, I change the game.”
- “Tax problems end here.”
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Philippe DioGuardi, he is the tax lawyer who has been bombarding the radio airwaves with spots that represent him as a one man crusader against the unfair tactics of the CRA. A recent Toronto Star investigation revealed some shocking information regarding the tax lawyer Philippe DioGuardi’s own tax problems with the CRA. Some of these startling revelations include:
- He over-drew $2 million from the law firm he co-owns with his father Paul.
- Ontario’s legal regulator is investigating nine complaints against him.
- The tax lawyer only recently settled his own $147,000 debt to the CRA.
- His estranged DioGuardi wife Elena wants spousal support of $25,000 a month.
By 2012 Philippe’s overspending was out of control. His father Paul was left with no alternative but to come out of retirement and take control of the law firm. In order to prevent Philippe from continuing to over-draw from the firm’s bank account, Paul changed the signing authorities and put the tax lawyer on a strict budget.
Philippe DioGuardi’s story sounds like a bad reality television program. The tax lawyer blames many of his financial problems to his estranged wife’s (who he’s been describing as a Russian mail-order bride) spending habits and his financial commitments to his 3 children from a previous marriage. All of the dirty laundry is being aired in public and financial documents submitted by the tax lawyer in the divorce action show that:
- Between the years 2009 and 2012, the firm had annual revenues of about $6 million, and spent about $2 million a year on advertising and marketing.
- As of 2012, Philippe DioGuardi owed the CRA more than $140,000, including $58,000 in unpaid taxes from 2011.
- By 2013, the CRA was trying to get a response from DioGuardi, with no luck.
- The arrears were paid off in full over time, through an arrangement the tax lawyer negotiated with the CRA.
The reality is that even a high profile tax fighting lawyer has to pay his income tax. There is no miracle cure or quick fix when you owe money to the CRA. If you’re having serious financial difficulties and owe money to the CRA, contact Ira Smith Trustee & Receiver Inc. We don’t have a $2 million advertising campaign. Our philosophy is that corporate or personal financial problems can be solved given immediate action and the right plan so that Starting Over, Starting Now you can live a debt free life.
