It appears that over the last few years the Ontario Ministry of Finance has been getting tough with the directors of corporations who fail to file Ontario corporate tax returns. Failing to file such a return is a criminal offence, and Finance has not been shy about levying charges when it is feeling neglected by the directors of a corporation. Joe Monaco and I have received a number of calls from directors who are due to appear in court. We do not handle criminal matters, and so we have referred the callers to other counsel. In any event, the message appears to be that a director who ignores a demand to file can expect to find him- or herself in court on criminal charges. Our clients, then, would do well not to ignore such demands.
