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All governments have a financial incentive to cooperate with each other. Otherwise, Revenue Canada has a few things on its side to assist them in receiving information on your foreign investments. For starters, there are international _ tax treaties. Trying to ripâ€"off Revenue Canada a fool‘s game This is becoming more apparent when it comes to investments outside of Canada. Yes, you do have to declare all income regardless of whether that income is earned here or in another country. emember, when you file your income tax, "Big Brother" is watching. Countries _ are under strong political pressure to manage their finances efficiently. _ And verifying that they have collected all income taxes that are due is just part of that process. Access to bank records facilitates investigations of drug trafficking and terrorist activity. In a common effort to fight these modernâ€" they would lose billions of dollars in tax revenue. Also, the idea of secrecy with respect to banking is quickly dlsappearmg There is international pressure for governments to use banking information to solve international crime. You might agree that there are good reasons for countries to share banking information. But with so much information, how is this possible? Can it be done? Welcome to the information â€" age. Computers are more powerful and more plentiful. Also, they are cheaper â€" therefore, it is more economical to establish financial surveillance. day crimes, we all lose some of our financial privacy. And the best is yet to come. One of the fastest growing areas of computer Q?EN \-\0 C PM 4â€"BDRM. en suite, walkâ€"in closet, 3 bths., mainâ€"floor fam. rm. w/FP., liv. rm., C/A, 5 appls. Immed. possession. Must sell, please call me ADNAN CABBANI, Assoc. Broker 335â€"2965. . $179,900. Extremely unique home on super large lot, walkâ€"out basement to patio and huge deck off liv. rm. Downtown near the lake. GERRY VANLIEROP, Sales Rep. 681â€" 3226 PINEMEADOW DR. $209,900 3 NORMANDY CRES OFF KERR ST. Currently, 3% of software is used for interâ€"organizational data exchange. That figure will grow to 20% within the next few years. development is in the communication of information between organizations. In the future, it will be possible for vast amounts of data to be shared between Revenue Canada and various _ foreign banking systems. Yes, you are being watched. We might argue whether this is positive or negative. Regardless of our opinions, it is the way of the future. Peter Watson, MBA, CFP, RFP is the president of Peter _ Watson Investments Limited â€" an Oakville firm specializing in retirement planning, RRSPs, and investment planning. He can be reached at 842â€"7602. IIJAVIGY 47171A MYO