Finance committee  The amendment was intended to protect the tax base that existed before those court cases broadened the exemption.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  I'm going to answer that question. I'll give you a little background for the answer. The general rule under the GST is that if it's applied in the course of commercial activity, it is taxable unless it's specifically exempt or zero-rated. Financial services are part of the services that are treated as exempt.

Finance committee  The goal here is not to increase revenue to the government; it's to protect the tax base that existed before those court cases.

Finance committee  Consulting in itself is not usually a financial service, because you can consult on all sorts of things. You talk about tax advice. That is not a financial service. For it to be a financial service it needs to be linked to the issuance of a financial instrument.

Finance committee  An example would be an insurance policy, or the issuance of a bond or any instrument that is there to provide financing of some sort.

Finance committee  My understanding is that's taxable.

Finance committee  Well, it's not a tax increase, because it protects from a tax decrease.