The Conservative leader said Tuesday that he could not include his property on Moncton Avenue in Quebec in his tax return because he does not draw any money from it. He let a friend live there to help him. He had to pay the property and school tax bills in exchange, but Éric Duhaime finally had to pay these bills.
Updated at 0:22
Should Éric Duhaime have declared this property to the tax authorities? It all depends on whether or not he makes money from it, according to tax specialist Luc Lacombe, a partner at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton. “Basically, all taxpayers must declare all their income,” he says. However, when property is held for personal purposes and not to earn income, there is no obligation to report it. »
“The real question would rather be: does Mr. Duhaime receive another benefit from his friend to whom he lends his house? If so, what is the value of this benefit? he continues.
Éric Duhaime explained on Tuesday that he wanted to help a friend in difficulty by letting him live in a residence he owns without charging him rent. In return, this friend had to pay the property and school tax bills.
The Conservative leader did not identify the man in question. The Press decided not to name him, given that he is unknown to the public, is not involved in politics and has no public responsibilities.
“The idea was to transfer it so that he could maintain the house and pay current accounts, including taxes, including Hydro, including cable, including mowing the lawn, painting the house, etc The basic stuff, he explained. Unfortunately, it was late and that’s why I had to pay all the bills afterwards. »
“I am losing money with this building, also underlined Éric Duhaime. I will make it the day I sell it. »
However, “the tax laws apply to everyone”, decides the tax expert André Lareau, associate professor at the Faculty of Law of Laval University.
If you receive rental income or if amounts are paid by tenants when they should have been paid by the landlord, this constitutes income for the landlord. It is not up to the owner to decide whether or not to disclose them to the state.
André Lareau, tax expert and professor at Laval University
André Lareau had recently invited Éric Duhaime to be transparent and to make public all his tax documents, including the financial statements of his building, his income tax return and his notice of assessment to demonstrate that it was not a tax evasion scheme. The overdue account for property taxes dated back to 2020.
The Conservative leader refused. “This is information of a confidential nature, which will remain confidential,” he said on Monday. He repeated several times that he had done nothing illegal.
A friend owner, then tenant
The “tenant friend” and his ex-spouse owned the house on Moncton Street until 2018. He was crippled with debts to his relatives and the government when Éric Duhaime bought the property.
According to the information available in the land register, Revenu Québec had already registered a legal hypothec of $44,422 on the residence in August 2017. Then a company belonging to the brother of the “tenant friend” had to sue him to recover the sum of $60,000 he lent her, according to a judgment traced The Press.
For unknown reasons, the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) also claimed $13,738 from the friend of the Conservative leader. An amount he paid, confirms the organization.
The ex-wife of the “tenant friend” also claimed thousands of dollars from him in court.
Then in 2016, another ex-spouse obtained a judgment forcing him to buy back her share of the property on Moncton Street, for the sum of at least $76,695. Eric Duhaime’s friend went to the Court of Appeal to have this amount revised downwards. Without success: the court refused to hear the case.
The ex then took steps to force the sale of the property in order to obtain his money. The leader of the Conservative Party bought it out three months later in March 2018, for $600,000.
But his friend’s problems with Quebec continued. The tax authorities sent him a “peremptory demand” in July 2018 to force him to file his tax return for the year 2016. He complied four days after the end of the ultimatum, receiving a fine of $400.
Duhaime goes into attack mode
On the defensive for four days, the Conservative leader attacked his political opponents on Tuesday evening in front of many activists gathered in a restaurant in Laval. “The more they attack us, the higher we go,” he exclaimed to his supporters.
“We have no lesson in ethics to receive and integrity to receive from a government that distributed 17 billion worth of contracts without calls for tenders,” he said, targeting the Coalition avenir Québec.
The Conservative leader has been criticized by his political opponents for his various overdue accounts over the years: municipal taxes, school taxes, electricity account and bill for plumbing work.
“It’s not strong, to present oneself as premier of Quebec with all these revelations,” reacted the co-spokesperson of Quebec solidaire Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois on Tuesday. He invited the Conservative leader to “be transparent”.