Never Smile at a Crocodile

Paul DioGuardi, tax lawyer and accomplished teller of tales, shares adventures of a life that proves that tax, contrary to the popular misconception, is anything but dull. His anecdotes are intermingled with insights and advice on tax issues of relevance to all Canadian taxpayers.

You have never read a tax book like this! A companion piece to The TaxMan is Watching (Harper Collins Canada, 2008), Never Smile at a Crocodile captures the spirit of adventure that inspired a young and fearless lawyer to devote his practice years to tax. Paul DioGuardi, tax lawyer and accomplished teller of tales, shares adventures of a life which proves that tax, contrary to the popular misconception, is anything but dull. His anecdotes are intermingled with insights and advice on tax issues of relevance to all taxpayers. In 48 years of practice, Paul has experienced the best and worst of the Canada Revenue Agency from both sides of the smiling crocodile’s jaws. From the inside looking out, as a special investigator at the CRA and then Department of Justice Counsel for the CRA; and from the taxpayer’s point of view, as Senior Tax Counsel at DioGuardi Tax Law, a national tax litigation law firm with offices in Toronto and Ottawa. The DioGuardi Tax Law’s library of case files are unequalled in the practice of Canadian taxpayer resolutions. If you thought tax was only for accountants, this book will change your mind.

Paul DioGuardi, QC has been a tax lawyer and litigator for 48 years. A graduate of Queen’s Law School in Kingston Ontario, he took his call to the bar in 1966 and immediately joined the Department of National Revenue as junior counsel. Later he moved to the Department of Justice, appearing as Counsel for the Canada Revenue Agency. Thereafter, in private practice he has represented both individuals and corporations in tax matters, and has developed important relationships within the CRA with people, processes, and channels of escalation for review by true decision makers. His firm, DioGuardi Tax Law, has offices in Mississauga, downtown Toronto and downtown Ottawa. His son Philippe DioGuardi, practices with him in the Toronto and Mississauga offices. His daughter Brigitte, practices in the firm’s Ottawa office. Paul has co-authored two previous tax books with Philippe DioGuardi: Tax Amnesty: Avoiding the Tax Trap (On Tax Publications Inc, 2004) and The Taxman is Watching: What Canadians Need to Know and Fear (HarperCollins Canada, 2008).