The New York Police Department (NYPD) has been compelled to shut down several of its internationally acclaimed foreign outposts, established in response to the September 11 attacks as a safeguard against terrorism, due to tax issues, according to The Post. Retired Detective Michael Catlin alleges he was the first to encounter problems at the NYPD’s Toronto bureau in a recent notice of claim for a $5 million lawsuit filed against the department last week.
In 2011, Catlin, aged 52, accepted an esteemed position in the NYPD’s International Liaison Program after ten years on the force. The opportunity involved relocating overseas and collaborating with local law enforcement agencies to address international crime and terrorism cases. NYPD officers participating in the program work alongside foreign departments to pinpoint potential issues that could affect New York City, resolve current cross-border criminal activities, and extradite prisoners apprehended abroad. The initiative is funded by private donations to the NYPD Police Foundation.
However, Catlin’s assignment in Toronto turned into a nightmare that left him on the brink of bankruptcy due to the NYPD’s failure to negotiate taxes with Canadian authorities or settle the payment themselves. He asserts that he was not alone in experiencing these problems. They closed Singapore, Montreal and Toronto,” Catlin told The Post. They told us, ‘We can’t have any more liability.
The department recently unveiled plans to open two new bureaus in Tucson, Arizona, and Bogota, Colombia, to help tackle the migrant crisis and the influx of drugs and firearms flowing through the southern US border towards New York City. However, Catlin disclosed that the NYPD is now grappling with tax issues in Colombia.
I’ve paid a half million dollars out of pocket,” Catlin, who reluctantly retired last week because his bureau was closing, stated regarding his income taxes in Canada. And the Canadian IRS is saying I owe another $250,000.
Catlin, who joined the department in 2001, explained that when he first started working with the Toronto police force, much of his focus was on terrorism, identifying trends in neighboring countries that could have implications for New York City. Back then, it was all about ISIS,” he said. They had a lot of Canadians being drawn in by the message and traveling to that part of the world.
Approximately five years into his tenure in Toronto, Catlin met and married a local police officer, with whom he had a son named Oliver. He assumed that the NYPD had an agreement in place for his personal income taxes in Canada. However, in 2020, his wife’s accountant informed her that he should be paying Canadian taxes himself.
Catlin sought legal advice and discovered that the NYPD had never provided him with instructions to pay Canadian taxes. I got nervous when a lawyer said ‘You can be prosecuted for this,'” he recalled. I certainly don’t want to get prosecuted for tax evasion. I’m not Al Capone.
He was consistently paying US income taxes—New York state and city included—throughout his time in Toronto. However, he was never advised to compensate for the disparity between US and Canadian tax rates. Socialist Canada’s combined federal and provincial tax rate ranges from 20.05% to 53.53.
Upon realizing that he needed to pay Canadian taxes, Catlin immediately contacted the NYPD for guidance. His supervisor informed him, “Well you put yourself on the radar” by getting married and drawing attention to his taxpayer status. I was like ‘Are you asking me to commit tax evasion more quietly? Because that’s not what the rules are and we’re supposed to follow the rules,'” he recalled.
Catlin paid the Canadian IRS $100,000 out of his own NYPD deferred retirement account, a decision he claims has left him on the verge of bankruptcy. Not the guy before me. Not the guy before him. So, you know, people flew under the radar. I just happened to be the unlucky son of a bitch that had to deal with the problem they created.
He retired on May 16 after 23 years in law enforcement. His attorney, John Scola, stated that the NYPD “demands loyalty from their employees at all times but rarely reciprocates when their employees are in need. In the latest example, Detective Catlin was forced to pay more than half a million dollars in back taxes and will go bankrupt due the NYPD’s refusal to admit their errors and accept responsibility.
