Business Coalition Opposes Tax Changes
Lack of details on small business tax changes a concern for business coalition
Ottawa, November 22, 2017 – Despite the federal government’s partial adjustments to its small business tax changes, business groups are still troubled about the potential negative effects the revised proposals will have on small and medium-sized firms.
The concerns are spelled-out in a new letter to Finance Minister Bill Morneau by the Coalition for Small Business Tax Fairness, a unified voice of now almost 80 organizations representing hundreds of thousands of business owners across the country.
“It’s been one month since the government provided any details of its revised proposals. And, in just a few weeks, some of the new tax provisions are supposed to come into effect,” said Dan Kelly, President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “We continue to urge the government to slow down and allow time for genuine stakeholder input to help minimize any unintended consequences. The fight against these proposals is not over.”
“For our businesses to succeed, we need to reform our complex, cumbersome and uncompetitive tax system, and we need to do it right,” said the Hon. Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “There has been some improvement, but business owners are still alarmed since much still remains to be defined. Businesses from across the country are prepared to work with the government to find ways to make our tax system simpler, less burdensome and fairer.”
In the letter, coalition members praise the government for reinstating its promise to reduce the small business corporate tax rate to nine per cent by 2019. They are also pleased that the government has stepped back from measures relating to the conversion of income into capital gains and that they have recognized the importance of passive income to a business.
The Coalition for Small Business Tax Fairness, however, is still concerned about the tax changes in their current form:
Income sprinkling rules
While the government has offered to simplify the proposed “reasonableness test” for business owners paying dividends to adult family members, they have not provided any further details. The coalition recommends that the government postpone the implementation of this change, by one year, to January 1, 2019 to provide small businesses with sufficient time to implement required changes to existing business structures.
Passive investments
The revised proposal allowing incorporated businesses a passive investment income threshold of $50,000 is insufficient for those who are saving to grow and create more business opportunities. The coalition therefore recommends that the government drop the passive investment rules until a full economic impact assessment has been completed.
Coalition Recommendations
The Coalition for Small Business Tax Fairness is encouraging business owners and other concerned Canadians to contact their Members of Parliament and use the hashtags #unfairtaxchanges #taxesinéquitables on social media. For the full list of Coalition members, please visit smallbiztaxfairness.ca.
READ LETTER TO THE HONOURABLE BILL MORNEAU: RE TAX FAIRNESS FEEDBACK
QUOTES:
“The difficulty with adopting or advancing a series of proposals without a preliminary consultation is the risk – evident from the reaction to the July 18 proposals – of a substantial backlash. The key is to have the government understand that the determination of fairness is a societal principle and not a public service employee determination. Without a common definition of fairness, and application of this definition to all groups you create distrust and conflicts of interest. Such an approach is simply not sustainable, defensible nor is it good public policy.” — John Reid, Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance