Finance committee  Mr. Chair, I have with me a lawyer from the Department of Finance who would like to help you. There seems to be some confusion that we would like to clear up.

Finance committee  That is what we have.

Finance committee  There have been changes to the numbers for the thresholds of hours and the amounts that are involved. Otherwise, we don't see changes.

Finance committee  No.

Finance committee  We can confirm that the proposed section 60.04 of the bill states very clearly that no deduction could be claimed if an amount has been paid and excluded. So it is exclusive. It is one or the other. The deduction is not on top of the amount excluded.

Finance committee  No. The act maintains the exclusion for the first $1,000, but, if a payment of $1,000 is made and the exclusion comes into effect, a choice is out of the question. You cannot choose either the exclusion or the deduction. With an exclusion, there would be no deduction. The way it

Finance committee  Yes. Under section 81(4) of the current act, if a payment is made, it is not possible to choose. It is not elective. As soon as a payment is made, the exclusion applies. Section 60.04, that the bill will create, would automatically prevent a deduction. It is not possible to

Finance committee  That is the intent of the current exclusion.

Finance committee  No, the act stipulates that, as soon as a payment is made, it must be excluded. As soon as a person receives a payment, the $1,000 exclusion must automatically apply. The effect of the bill would be to prevent the deduction. No deduction will be added to what is there at present.

Finance committee  It provides nothing for those who receive a payment and who automatically have the right to an exclusion. It gives those who work as unpaid volunteers the right to a deduction of between $1,000 and $2,000.

Finance committee  Again, from the Department of Finance's perspective, it is not clear. I am sorry, I cannot be of any more help to you on that.

Finance committee  As I indicated last time, the terms used in the bill are general and have never been interpreted. Usually, the interpretation is done by the Canada Revenue Agency. They have not yet interpreted these general terms. In a Statistics Canada survey that looked for data on the number

Finance committee  Well, it's very similar. I think the drafters used something--

Finance committee  Yes, it's very much in line with this. It is stated in the Income Tax Act and has to be interpreted by the Canada Revenue Agency. Now, we know that the Canada Revenue Agency has only taken a view once about what that means; it was in a very specific case of an individual who aske

Finance committee  Yes; for the current exemption, there is a definition.