SAM FARIS, CPA, CGA, President, Faris CPA Professional Corporation, Greater Toronto Area, Ontario
- NATALIE NOBLE
- Oct 14
- 7 min read
SAM FARIS
“You cannot be good. You have to be excellent.”
There’s no escaping the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Tax audits, falling behind on taxes, erroneous filing by an accountant – now, more than ever, the CRA is dialled in and they will catch it. “The CRA has become stricter in their operations and enforcement. Their system has grown more sophisticated,” says Sam Faris, CPA, CGA, and President at Faris CPA Professional Corporation (Faris CPA). “People cannot trick the system.”
With over two decades of experience protecting clients’ assets from the CRA, Sam is the expert tax consultant helping those owing the CRA or facing a tax audit keep more of their money.
Understanding the critical state his clients are in, Sam lives and breathes his work. His drive calls back his university days when he pursued his Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) certification. “I was only eligible for one course each semester as an international student back in 2000,” says Sam. “I bypassed the program, attending different universities so I could take five courses each term. I saved time while also working full-time to gain Canadian experience.”
With all the required courses completed in his self-accelerated program, Sam registered for the CPA certification program. Meanwhile, he worked full-time at CPA firms in Toronto on King and Bay Streets until he passed his Canadian exams, as well as his CPA in the U.S. and his Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in the U.K. “I worked at these firms for years until my 2014 New Year's resolution to go on my own,” says Sam. “I’m a leader, not a follower. My business started as a one-man show, but it never suffered from day one. I was so busy, I used to have a bed in my office.”
That solo approach only worked for so long. When Sam won a big case against the CRA earning an early client a $1-million refund, word spread. “Suddenly I could not handle everything alone,” says Sam. “The cases I work are highly sensitive and vital to my clients. There’s a lot at stake for them, and for me.”
Today, Faris CPA remains a boutique firm with the support Sam requires to ensure every client receives his best. “It’s important to me that each client feels I handle only one file – their file. With my team, I can be agile in my response. My staff are highly knowledgeable, but I have to be the one overseeing everything. Not one thing can be missed.”
With Sam at the helm of each file, his expert team assist with assigned work. “All my staff are experienced CPAs who have trained with me for years,” says Sam. “They know accounting, but they’re also experts in CRA tax disputes. Besides me, there is one CPA assigned to each file, meaning two CPAs review everything meticulously to ensure our submissions are correct, reconciled, and cannot be disputed. We craft legally-sound submissions to help ensure they’re accepted, and to be defensible on the off chance they’re not and the case is escalated.”
To appreciate Sam’s value, it’s important to distinguish between the role of a CPA versus a tax lawyer. “People only need a tax lawyer when they must attend tax court,” says Sam, who has a tax lawyer on his team for those special cases. “A tax lawyer will end up referring them to a CRA-experienced CPA. Then they’ll be paying legal and accounting fees.”
There’s a deep pool of CPAs across Canada, so individuals must ensure they’re hiring the right one for their specific case. “You cannot be good. You have to be excellent,” says Sam. “If someone has a kidney problem, they don’t go to a family doctor. They go to a kidney specialist. Accounting is no different. When somebody has a tax issue, a traditional CPA won’t cut it. They need a CPA who specializes in tax disputes, knows the law, and knows how to use the system to protect their financial interests.”
To be in trouble with the CRA is stressful to say the least. “These people have anxiety; they're sleepless at night. I’ve seen divorces over this. People think they're going to jail and their life as it was is over. Having CRA issues is a disaster,” says Sam. “My approach is to help clients relax by explaining the best strategy based on my previous experiences with similar files, how I dealt with them, and what the potential outcome looks like. I have experienced every single issue possible with the CRA.”
Approximately 90 per cent of Sam’s clients have knowingly or unknowingly filed taxes with errors, often made by a previous accountant. “Many of these clients come to me with trust issues, and rightly so. Trust is earned, not given away,” says Sam.
Earning faith back demands empathy and Faris CPA’s highly responsive principles. “Before I start working with someone, I have to understand their situation and how they feel. This is a human life and it is crucial,” says Sam, who is available 24-7 to quickly connect with and support distressed clients.
While Sam knows tax law inside out, there are two specialties where Faris CPA especially shines. Their overarching forte is protecting high-net-worth clients. Underlying that is their intricate understanding of the CRA’s Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP), which grants relief to taxpayers who come forward to correct tax filing errors and omissions prior to CRA enforcement.
“There are changes coming to the program that will save Canadians more money,” says Sam, who has leveraged the program to help clients for years. The new developments are a response to scathing annual reports by François Boileau, Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson, addressing the CRA’s services. Concurrently, Canada’s Minister of Finance demanded the CRA implement a 100-day plan to strengthen its services, reduce delays, and improve accessibility for taxpayers. Thus, the CRA has made it easier to use the VDP and entice more people to come forward.
Sam explains the updated program allows Canadians to come forward unprompted or after receiving a general education letter to receive up to 75 per cent interest relief. “If you apply to the VDP after receiving a more specific letter asking you to update your information by a certain date, it’s now considered a ‘prompted disclosure,’ meaning you’re only eligible for partial interest relief at up to 25 per cent. Both streams of the revamped VDP provide penalty relief if your disclosure is accepted,” says Sam. “That’s why I can’t stress enough how critical it is to submit a VDP application as soon as possible – before you’re contacted by the CRA. The difference in interest relief alone can easily translate to thousands of dollars.”
To understand how it all works together, Sam has real-life examples, generalized here for confidentiality. Say a client has a large portfolio of international assets but decides to retire in Canada, transferring undisclosed assets and income back home. “We’re talking $30 million-plus in these portfolios,” says Sam. “In cases where I can deal with the client’s voluntary disclosure successfully, we see resolution with penalty and interest relief. If the CRA approaches them prior to our voluntary disclosure, because they can quickly see when lifestyle does not justify income, the case turns to enforcement, it’s not voluntary anymore. The interest, penalties, and tax can be significantly more, and the client is likely to face an audit, and potentially even prosecution.”
In another example case, a client may have an offshore investment financed through their Canadian bank account. The CRA quickly identifies, again, when lifestyle and income don’t match. “Here, the CRA starts a net worth audit when they suspect this person is hiding assets and income,” says Sam. “I know the CRA bases net worth on many assumptions, and some are unreasonable. My calculations are not based on assumptions; they are based on documents and facts. I’m able to make a proposal I know is likely to be accepted by the CRA based on these facts and all my experience dealing with them. I can bring a tax bill of seven million dollars down below one million.”
In this example, because the CRA is already at the audit stage, the client isn’t eligible for the VDP, so they lose in interest, penalties, and higher fees to resolve the more complicated matter. However, the alternative is that the taxpayer could be prosecuted and face jail time if they submit an unsuccessful counterproposal.
In Sam’s knack for helping high-net-worth clients, a new niche has emerged – the digital millionaire. These new era earners, such as OnlyFans models, Amazon sellers, or cryptocurrency traders, can bring in six-figure monthly revenue nearly overnight but often neglect their tax-related responsibilities. “These people, commonly in their early 20s, are making money in never-before-seen ways,” says Sam, adding that he has counselled young professionals who earn $500,000-plus per month through their digital businesses.
In these cases, the CRA can quickly identify red flags in their filings. For instance, despite living at a postal code in a neighbourhood where homes go upwards of $10 million, a digital earner might claim only tens of thousands in annual income. The CRA initiates an audit or investigation, disqualifying them from the VDP. Should they decline Sam’s honest approach to resolve their matter and continue to avoid disclosure with the CRA, the offence could mean handcuffs and prosecution.
“Some clients don't like my approach because I'm honest and I don't sugarcoat anything,” says Sam. “I cannot lie or try to make things sound easier for the client. When I’m approached to resolve an issue, I do things correctly, no bluffing, and the advice I give is the right advice. If they don't follow it, it's a matter of time before they face the consequences.”
Sam Faris, CPA, CGA, LPA
President at Faris CPA Professional Corporation
255 Duncan Mill Road, Suite 604
Toronto, Ontario, M3B 3H9
647-340-5771
Natalie Noble’s love of writing stems from her passion for hearing and sharing people’s stories. Over the years she has written for various business, real estate, and agriculture publications. At the heart of her work is a desire to continuously learn and connect.