Ottawa, December 13, 2017— The new measures on income sprinkling announced today by Finance Minister Bill Morneau show that government has listened to many of the issues raised by the business community, but concerns remain, says the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
“The government has gone a long way in clarifying how it’s new income sprinkling rules will work. But many types of business do not fall neatly in the categories outlined by the Minister and will still be subject to the Canada Revenue Agency interpretation of reasonableness,” explained the Hon. Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “We do appreciate the government is trying to simplify the criteria around income sprinkling, but an issue of this complexity cannot be rushed,” he continued.
“The Minister is announcing measures that are coming into effect in two weeks,” said Mr. Beatty, referring to the January 1, 2018 date at which these measures start to be applied. “It is unreasonable to expect businesses will have time to adapt to this announcement, especially at this time of year. Instead, we’d much rather see the deadline pushed back a year, as recommended by the Senate Committee on National Finance.”
Today, the Senate Standing Committee on National Finance issued a report that urges the government to withdraw the proposed changes to the taxation of private corporations in Canada, or barring that, to push back their application to 2019. The Senate Committee is also echoing the Canadian Chamber’s recommendation to proceed with an in-depth review of the country’s tax system.
“Business owners across the country are the best-placed people to work with government on creating a fair, simple and competitive tax system – something the Canadian Chamber advocates, and today’s Senate report supports. We hope that the government is listening,” concluded Mr. Beatty.
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The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is the vital connection between business and the federal government. It helps shape public policy and decision-making to the benefit of businesses, communities and families across Canada with a network of over 450 chambers of commerce and boards of trade, representing 200,000 businesses of all sizes in all sectors of the economy and in all regions. News and information are available at Chamber.ca or follow us on Twitter @CdnChamberofCom
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Contact:
Guillaum W. Dubreuil
Director, Public Affairs and Media Relations
Canadian Chamber of Commerce
613.797.1860
[email protected]