A Vancouver Realtor has been handed a nine-month conditional sentence and ordered to pay more than $100,000 after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion. Thi Nhan Nguyen, also known as Lynn Nguyen, received her sentence in Vancouver provincial court on Tuesday, according to a Wednesday statement from the Canada Revenue Agency. Nguyen “willfully failed to report a taxable gain from the sale of a Vancouver residential property,” the CRA said in its statement, explaining that she avoided $103,785 in income tax by doing so. The tax agency said Nguyen “engaged in a scheme” to make it look like the Vancouver home was her principal residence, when in fact she had rented it out to a tenant. The scheme lasted from January 2012 through March 2017. Nguyen worked as a Realtor during the relevant time, according to the CRA. In Canada, profits from the sale of a principal residence are not subject to taxation, but profits from the sales of investment properties are. To support her claim that the Vancouver home was her principal residence, Nguyen “took several steps over a number of years,” including collecting mail at the home and using the address for correspondence, the CRA said. “The property was occupied by a tenant from the time Nguyen became the registered owner in April 2012 until Nguyen disposed of her interest in the property in January 2015,” the CRA statement reads. “She also failed to disclose the sale of the property to her tax preparer when filing her 2015 income tax return.” During a CRA audit, Nguyen continued to assert that the property was her principal residence, providing “misleading information and documents” in support of her claim in 2017, according to the agency. The court ordered Nguyen to pay a fine equal to the amount of tax she evaded. “The CRA is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s tax system, thereby contributing to the social and economic well-being of Canadians,” the agency said in its statement. “Tax evasion is a serious crime. Falsifying records and claims, hiding income, or inflating expenses can lead to criminal charges, prosecution, court imposed fines, jail time, and a criminal record.”
