Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012

An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act and related legislation

This bill was last introduced in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session, which ended in September 2013.

Sponsor

Jim Flaherty  Conservative

Status

This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

Part 1 of this enactment implements, in accordance with proposals announced in the March 4, 2010 Budget and released for comment on August 27, 2010, amendments to the provisions of the Income Tax Act governing the taxation of non-resident trusts and their beneficiaries and of Canadian taxpayers who hold interests in offshore investment fund property.
Parts 2 and 3 implement various technical amendments in respect of the Income Tax Act and the Income Tax Regulations relating to the taxation of Canadian multinational corporations with foreign affiliates. The amendments in Part 2 are based on draft proposals released on December 18, 2009. Among other things, Part 2 includes the amendments to the foreign affiliate surplus rules in the Income Tax Regulations that are consequential to the foreign affiliate changes to the Income Tax Act announced in the March 19, 2007 Budget. The amendments in Part 3 are based on draft proposals released on August 19, 2011. Among other things, Part 3 includes revisions to the measures proposed in a package of draft legislation released on February 27, 2004 dealing primarily with reorganizations of, and distributions from, foreign affiliates.
Part 4 deals with provisions of the Income Tax Act that are not amended in Parts 1, 2, 3 or 5 in which the following private law concepts are used: right and interest, real and personal property, life estate and remainder interest, tangible and intangible property and joint and several liability. It enacts amendments, released for comments on July 16, 2010, to ensure that those provisions are bijural, in other words, that they reflect both the common law and the civil law in both linguistic versions. Similar amendments are made in Parts 1, 2, 3 and 5 to ensure that any provision of the Act enacted or amended by those Parts are also bijural.
Part 5 implements a number of income tax measures proposed in the March 4, 2010 Budget and released for comment on May 7, 2010 and August 27, 2010. Most notably, it enacts amendments
(a) relating to specified leasing property;
(b) to provide that conversions of specified investment flow-through (SIFT) trusts and partnerships into corporations are subject to the same loss utilization restrictions as are transactions between corporations;
(c) to prevent foreign tax credit generators; and
(d) implementing a regime for information reporting of tax avoidance transactions.
Part 5 also implements certain income tax measures that were previously announced. Most notably, it enacts amendments announced
(a) on January 27, 2009, relating to the Apprenticeship Completion Grant;
(b) on May 3, 2010, to clarify that computers continue to be eligible for the Atlantic investment tax credit;
(c) on July 16, 2010, relating to technical changes to the Income Tax Act which include amendments relating to the income tax treatment of restrictive covenants;
(d) on August 27, 2010, relating to the introduction of the Fairness for the Self-Employed Act;
(e) on November 5, 2010 and October 31, 2011, relating to technical changes to the Income Tax Act;
(f) on December 16, 2010, relating to changes to the income tax rules concerning real estate investment trusts; and
(g) on March 16, 2011, relating to the deductibility of contingent amounts, withholding tax applicable to certain interest payments made to non-residents, and certain life insurance corporation reserves.
Finally, Part 5 implements certain further technical income tax measures. Most notably, it enacts amendments relating to
(a) labour-sponsored venture capital corporations;
(b) the allocation of income of airline corporations; and
(c) the tax treatment of shares owned by short-term residents.
Part 6 amends the Excise Tax Act to implement technical and housekeeping amendments that include relieving the goods and services tax and the harmonized sales tax on the administrative service of collecting and distributing the levy on blank media imposed under the Copyright Act announced on October 31, 2011.
Part 7 amends the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to clarify, for greater certainty, the authority of the Minister of Finance and of the Minister of National Revenue to amend administration agreements if the change in question is explicitly contemplated by the language of the agreement and to confirm any amendments that may have been made to those agreements. Part 7 also amends the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act and the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act to enable the First Nations goods and services tax, imposed under a tax administration agreement between the federal government and an Aboriginal government, to be administered through a provincial administration system, if the province also administers the federal goods and services tax.
Part 8 contains coordinating amendments in respect of those provisions of the Income Tax Act that are amended by this Act and also by the Jobs and Growth Act, 2012 or that need coordination with the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Votes

May 29, 2013 Passed That the Bill be now read a third time and do pass.
May 27, 2013 Passed That, in relation to Bill C-48, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act and related legislation, not more than five further hours shall be allotted to the consideration of the third reading stage of the Bill; and That, at the expiry of the five hours provided for the consideration of the third reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.
March 7, 2013 Passed That, in relation to Bill C-48, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act and related legislation, not more than one further sitting day shall be allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the Bill; and That, 15 minutes before the expiry of the time provided for Government Orders on the day allotted to the consideration at second reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and, in turn, every question necessary for the disposal of the said stage of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively, without further debate or amendment.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

January 28th, 2013 / 6:05 p.m.
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NDP

Raymond Côté NDP Beauport—Limoilou, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech.

We have continually challenged the government on its primary responsibility to respect Canadians by being predictable, fair, clear and disciplined in being accountable and in adopting tax measures, in order to help the public cope with economic difficulties. I am thinking about the business owners I spoke to when I came back after the holidays, just a few days ago. They are demanding recognition and respect from the government.

My colleague is facing many challenges, as am I in Beauport—Limoilou. Big businesses have made massive cuts, and this affects small businesses that subcontract or that draw some type of benefit. I would like my colleague to talk about the lack of trust business owners in her riding have in the government because of its negligence and inaction.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

January 28th, 2013 / 6:10 p.m.
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NDP

Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right about the difficulties facing people not only in all of Canada but particularly in ridings where multinational corporations have taken and taken and taken, whether tax benefits, resources, consuming infrastructure, or utilizing the expertise of the workers who made them wealthy and competitive industries and simply walked away, leaving the country high and dry, as we saw with the community of London—Fanshawe when the offshoot of Caterpillar left.

The future of this country is very clearly with small- and medium-size businesses. They are part of the community. In fact, last week I had the profound pleasure of speaking to members of the Rotary Club, made up of members of the small- and medium-size businesses that employ people, that are contributors to the community. They are not just there to take, take, take; they are there to give back and make for strong neighbourhoods. Therefore, we need a tax system that suits their needs. We need to stop these huge and ridiculous tax breaks for multinational corporations, the polluters, the banks, which are giving back very little, if anything at all, and we need to look very closely at small- and medium-size business and in that process make it as easy and expedient as possible for them to do their jobs as we would like.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

January 28th, 2013 / 6:10 p.m.
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NDP

Anne Minh-Thu Quach NDP Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know whether my colleague can tell us if there would be a way for the government to make these tax measures much easier for the average person to understand—for me, for all MPs here, as well as for all businesses—instead of presenting a massive one-time reform of tax laws with 1,000 pages every 10 or 11 years. How could it be simpler?

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

January 28th, 2013 / 6:10 p.m.
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NDP

Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON

Mr. Speaker, I think it is really quite clear to us on this side of the House that smaller, more manageable bills would be the way to go. The promise to have an annual legislative process in place, I think, is the intelligent way to go. In that way, people could digest the small chunks at a time instead of this 10-year process where a thousand pages come at us and we try to sift and sort and understand them.

This is not exactly in regard to taxation, but very recently I received a number of complaints from concerned seniors who are being told that their income tax returns will now have to be done over the Internet. They are absolutely apoplectic. This is just another example of a government that is not looking at the needs of Canadians and is steamrolling over those Canadians.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

January 28th, 2013 / 6:10 p.m.
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NDP

Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON

Mr. Speaker, as this is my first time rising in the House in 2013, I would like to take a minute to wish my constituents a happy and prosperous New Year.

I am glad to speak to Bill C-48 today, a bill that has been a long time coming. I hope it will not be another decade before we undergo this exercise again.

As we have heard, this is a huge bill. It addresses the changes to the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act and related legislation. It is almost a thousand pages.

What sets this large piece of legislation apart from the omnibus budget implementation acts that we debated last year is that it makes changes to a few closely related pieces of legislation. Therefore, I am perplexed as to why the government did not just throw it all in with the other stuff.

As we heard today, these changes are mostly old news and have been in practice for a number of years. That said, the bill is needed, as it has been more than 10 years since we have updated tax code legislation.

It is not that there have not been changes. The bill will include hundreds of tax measures that are already in place and have been enacted by comfort letters. In that respect, a lot of Bill C-48 amounts to technical housekeeping.

As the House is aware, the New Democrats are supporting the bill, but that does not amount to the acceptance of the government's direction on taxation or the belief that this entire process should not be improved. Certainly, the long period between updates to the tax code lead us to the situation that we have now where the legislation becomes so large. If we were to go through this process a little more regularly, we could avoid the scenario where MPs are forced to vote on bills that defy thorough study.

Tax lawyer Thomas McDonnell stated as much in a blog that touches on Bill C-48 as he discussed the legislative process with respect to taxation in both the United States and Canada. He wrote:

This Bill will also be passed without much in the way of informed debate in the House. Most parliamentarians voting on it will admit that they have not read it, let alone tried to fully understand the consequences of voting for (or against) it. This is not how Parliament is supposed to deal with one of its essential functions–the raising of revenue.

With that in mind it seems fairly straightforward to suggest that the government would do well to set a more regular schedule for this type of legislation going forward. I cannot imagine that such a move would be anything but positive, especially for those people whose business it is to work with the tax code.

We know there is broad support to do the work set out in the bill to get these measures into the tax code proper. The Auditor General has told us that it is long overdue. She told Parliament in 2009 that there were at least 400 outstanding technical amendments that had not yet been put into legislation. Over 200 of those outstanding changes are addressed in Bill C-48. While the Auditor General acknowledged that most tax practitioners were relatively happy with the comfort letter process, she noted the need to enact the legislative changes the comfort letters identified. Why it took four years to act on that advice is a question the government will have to answer. With the support it is receiving for Bill C-48 today, it is obvious that this could have been done some time ago.

When we are speaking about taxes, especially in the technical manner that we are today, most Canadians will not be sitting on the edge of their seats. This is not a bill that is likely to be newsworthy, since most of it is old news. What the bill does a lot of is to bring existing measures into the tax code that are designed to curb tax avoidance, which is actually good news for the vast majority of Canadians.

While the political discourse on taxation is often stuck in one gear, namely how to cut taxes, what is usually lost in the debate is the role that taxes play. Despite the universal desire to pay less, most people recognize the necessity of taxes. They allow us to operate as a country and can help us do a lot of good. Let us not forget about all the infrastructure dollars that go into our communities; they come from part of our taxes.

It is also a simple fact that countries require revenue and that revenue largely comes from taxation. What people absolutely want to see is a tax system that is fair, a system that guards against tax avoidance and a system that does not reward those people who are in a position to hide their money from their country. People do not want to feel that they are paying to subsidize others who have managed to use loopholes to minimize their contribution. That will not sit well with hard-working Canadians, and it should not sit well with parliamentarians either.

New Democrats understand this. We believe in cracking down on both tax avoidance and tax evasion, while ensuring the integrity of our tax system. We support the changes being proposed in the bill, especially those that aim to reduce tax avoidance.

The work being proposed in Bill C-48 is long overdue. Among the beneficiaries of the bill will be small businesses. These are the cornerstone of our communities, and it is important for us to do everything we can to create an environment that would make it easier to do business. These business people have enough to worry about without having to consider things like comfort letters. In that respect, what we are debating here is good. We would be streamlining the workload that businesses will have to comply with. Based on what I hear from businesses in my constituency of Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, that would be a good and welcome thing.

As we have heard today, it would be impossible for any one of us to give a detailed account of such a large bill in the limited time we have to speak to the bill, so I will touch on one last item that I believe is timely.

What I am talking about is part 7 of Bill C-48. Part 7 clarifies the minister's authority to amend schedules and annexes to tax administration agreements if doing so does not fundamentally change the terms of the agreement. It would also allow tax administration agreements for the first nations goods and services tax between the federal government and aboriginal governments to be administered through a provincial administration system if the province also administers the federal GST. If we think back to how that issue was bungled when the HST was rolled out in Ontario, it would certainly help us avoid a similar scenario in the future.

I am sure members remember the discussion on the HST in Ontario. When the HST was brought in, how it would affect first nations was an afterthought by the Conservative government. Only some eleventh-hour negotiating at the insistence of Ontario chiefs like Chief Shining Turtle of Whitefish River First Nation, who is also the chair of the United Chiefs and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising First Nations on Manitoulin Island and Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee. They avoided a showdown over the issue. In the end the solution was there all along. The Conservative government and the Government of Ontario chose to ignore it until they had no choice.

It is fitting that the Idle No More national day of protest was held in front of Parliament today. This is a similar issue. Some of us, along with the leader of the NDP, took the opportunity to meet with these people who have travelled a long way to bring their message of dissatisfaction to Parliament. Much of the frustration they are expressing comes from exactly the type of oversight that was on display when the HST turned first nations' tax exempt status into an exercise in red tape. What was forgotten at that time was the constitutional obligation of the federal government to meaningfully consult and accommodate first nations in decisions that directly affect them. I would like members to think about that because it seems that people have forgotten those words. I will repeat them: meaningfully consulting, meaningfully accommodating first nations in decisions that directly affect them.

This has been a sticking point for the Conservative government and I hope it has now recognized that first nations are not going to merely roll over and accept top-down directives. Had the government consulted, it would have heard that messing with tax exempt status was a non-starter and it could have moved immediately to the solution. Had the government remembered about the HST fiasco, it would not have gone ahead with the type of legislation that it threw into Bill C-45.

I met with some young people from the Whitefish River first nation. They do not understand why the government is not respecting their treaty rights, the accords and other agreements that have been signed. They are beyond themselves when it comes to the fact that the government often does not respect doing meaningful consultation. They have a right to that. New Democrats are hopeful the government will now show signs of understanding this and will proceed accordingly.

In closing, I reiterate that although New Democrats are supporting this bill, it is by no means an endorsement of the government's tax policies which put too much of the burden on the little guy while allowing an increasingly freer ride for the top earners in this country. We remain unconvinced that such a model is the best way to create wealth or jobs, but that is not the goal of this legislation either.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

January 28th, 2013 / 6:25 p.m.
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NDP

Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC

Mr. Speaker, I very much enjoyed my colleague's speech, especially her conclusion.

I found her comparison of the bill and the situation we are currently facing with our aboriginal communities particularly insightful. I found the connection quite relevant. In both cases, it appears that the government is waiting till the last minute to make any changes, despite how crucial they are. This is the eleventh hour, but we have no choice, since we are up to 950 pages.

It took the government 10 years to legislate technical changes recommended by the Canada Revenue Agency and other organizations and introduce this bill. Yet the situation decried by the Idle No More movement is the same: the government is waiting for a crisis to address a situation that should have been addressed long ago.

I wonder if my colleague could share her thoughts on how this government is governing. It always waits till the last minute and hopes that it can still manage things once they turn into a crisis situation, whether it involves aboriginal issues or fiscal matters. This bill, or at least certain parts of it, could have been implemented a long time ago.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

January 28th, 2013 / 6:25 p.m.
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NDP

Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his question.

Obviously, it is the government's responsibility to consult and accommodate first nations. Before a bill is even introduced, the government should determine if the bill will affect first nations and if it has a responsibility to consult them. The government should also undertake other consultations once the bill has been introduced.

We should be getting the green light from first nations before we move forward with bills that have an impact on their reserves and their rights. That is very important to us. As we said, we have been waiting and waiting for this type of bill to put tax issues in order.

It is unfortunate that the Conservatives introduced a 1,000-page bill because with them it is hard to know what they might have added or what we may have been missed, since we do not have a lot of time to study it.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

January 28th, 2013 / 6:25 p.m.
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NDP

Sadia Groguhé NDP Saint-Lambert, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her speech.

We are talking about a very complex tax system, yet this government has introduced a bill that is more than 900 pages long and in no way simplifies the system.

Does my colleague feel that this bill will ensure the transparency and integrity of our tax system?

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

January 28th, 2013 / 6:25 p.m.
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NDP

Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right.

This 1,000-plus-page bill includes approximately 200 changes. The Auditor General said that more than 400 changes needed to be made, but not all of them are here. There is still work to be done. It is unfortunate that it is taking this government so long.

It prefers to change things that adversely affect people instead of doing the work of the House to ensure that the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed.

The House resumed from January 28 consideration of the motion that Bill C-48, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act and related legislation, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

February 15th, 2013 / 10:05 a.m.
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Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise on the subject of Bill C-48, which is now before the House. The bill could be termed a housecleaning bill, which does not mean that it is unimportant because it is important to keep one's house clean and in this case we are talking about the cleanliness of our tax system. The bill enacts into law previous comfort letters and other statements by the Department of Finance, which have already been enacted by CRA but which are not yet enshrined in the law.

As I will indicate, the Liberal Party will support the bill. Our only complaint is that it is far too long in coming. There have been massive delays to the point where the bill is almost 1,000 pages long with, I believe, 40-something amendments. This has caused great cost and great uncertainty to the tax system. We believe that it is simply bad public administration that the government should have delayed so long in bringing the legislation forward.

The last housecleaning tax bill passed by Parliament was in 2001, almost 12 years ago. We believe as a matter of course such bills should come before the House every year, so that the complexity of the tax system would be alleviated and taxpayers would have a clearer idea of what their rights and obligations are.

Let me begin by going through a little bit of the sad, lengthy history, which has led us from 12 years ago when the last bill was passed to where we are today. As I said, in 2001, a tax housecleaning bill was passed, 12 years ago. The Liberal government prepared another one but then was defeated. The Conservatives made two attempts but both failed. Because of an election or because of prorogation, those bills simply did not get through the House and were dropped.

The next event that is of some importance is the Auditor General's report of 2009. The Auditor General made it crystal clear that there were major costs imposed by not acting more expeditiously in this area. I would like to read a few of the key recommendations that were made by the Auditor General in 2009.

She said:

For taxpayers, the negative effects of uncertainty may include

• higher costs of obtaining professional advice to comply with tax law;

• less efficiency in doing business transactions;

• inability of publicly traded corporations to use proposed tax changes in their financial reporting, because they have not been “substantively enacted”;

• greater cynicism about the fairness of the tax system; and

• increased willingness to use aggressive tax plans.

She continued:

For the tax administrator, the negative effects may include

• higher costs for providing additional guidance and interpretations to taxpayers and tax auditors; and

• higher administrative costs for reprocessing the tax returns after an outstanding legislative amendment is enacted and for obtaining waivers to extend the limitation period for reassessment.

These points are extremely clear. The Auditor General makes it very clear that the absence of housecleaning legislation presented promptly imposes major costs on taxpayers in terms of their ability to understand the law, their need for professional advice and also imposes greater delays on rulings by CRA, which further reduce the efficiency of the system.

Following the Auditor General's report, the parliamentary committee on public accounts met and I would like to read its recommendations, which were published in the year 2010:

RECOMMENDATION 1

That the Department of Finance Canada facilitate the elimination of the backlog by ensuring that bills making technical amendments to the Income Tax Act only relate to technical tax matters.

RECOMMENDATION 2

That the Department of Finance Canada not wait until technical amendments bills are passed by Parliament before releasing further proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act for comment.

RECOMMENDATION 3

That once the current backlog of technical amendments is passed, the Department of Finance Canada should prepare annual technical amendments bills for consideration by Parliament.

RECOMMENDATION 4

That the Canada Revenue Agency provide by 31 March 2011 a progress report to the Public Accounts Committee on actions taken to address the recommendations contained in Chapter 3 of the Auditor General’s November 2009 Report.

It is clear as we stand now, in 2013, that these recommendations of the public accounts committee were not followed. It called for this housekeeping legislation to be presented on an annual basis. It called for a reduction in the time that CRA took to give its tax opinions or directions. This has not happened. The time has gotten longer, not shorter. Again, I would argue that this is a case of really bad public administration in an area that is not particularly exciting to the public but is, nevertheless, critical to the good functioning of our economy.

Now, one would think that accountants, of all people, would love tax complexity because they are paid for helping people to complete their taxes. If the system is more complex, they are needed even more and they would make more money. However, quite to the contrary, both the chartered accountants and the certified general accountants have recently been arguing very strongly in favour of expeditious passing of the legislation as well as a more general reform of the tax system.

I would like to read from both the recommendations of the chartered accountants and the certified general accountants on these issues. In 2010, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants said:

Reducing complexity in Canada’s domestic tax regime is crucial to easing the regulatory burden placed on Canadian businesses and attracting investment. Simplifying our tax system would make the country more competitive and allow both individuals and business to prosper. According to The Global Competitiveness Report 2010 – 2011 issued by the World Economic Forum, tax regulations are among the top four most problematic factors cited by business executives for doing business in Canada. Many aspects of Canada’s tax system have become much too complex. We recommend that the government establish a national consultation process to examine tax simplification measures.

This is a government that talks all the time about caring only about the economy, about being competitive, about attracting foreign investment, and yet tax complexity is number four on the list of negative factors, according to companies, investors. The government has done nothing since these recommendations of 2009-10 until three years later, today, notwithstanding the pleas from the accountants, the Auditor General and the public accounts committee, to act expeditiously.

Let me now read what the certified general accountants said:

Modernize Canada’s tax system – make it simple, transparent and more efficient

Introduce and pass a technical tax bill to deal with unlegislated tax proposals

Implement a “sunset provision” to prevent future legislative backlogs

Appoint an independent panel of experts to recommend steps to reform Canada’s tax system

That statement about a sunset provision is interesting because it would say that when Finance issues a declaration or a comfort letter that effectively changes the system, unless it is placed in law within a certain time, such as a year or two years, it sunsets. It disappears. This would be a good change to the system because it would be an incentive for the Department of Finance or the government to implement these housecleaning bills annually or expeditiously so as to reduce this growing complication of Canada's tax system.

However, as members will have heard from these quotes, the issue goes further than simply these housecleaning bills. It has been 12 years since our last housecleaning bill and close to 50 years since our last full-scale examination of Canada's tax system. The last time that was done, I believe, the report was issued in 1966 and it was done by the Carter commission. The accountants and I say that it is high time we have another overall study of Canada's tax system with a view to simplifying it and making it more competitive, less complex and more fair. This would be a major undertaking, and since it has not been done in almost 50 years, it is high time that we do it.

One obvious unfairness, which would become apparent if such a study were done, is the operation of our tax credits. The government offers tax credits for young soccer players or young violinists. Some economists would prefer that such measures be put into overall cuts in income tax, but that is another issue. My point is that these tax credits are grossly unfair because they deliberately exclude those people whose income is not high enough to pay significant tax. Therefore, low-income Canadians' sons and daughters might want to play soccer or the violin just as much as a child of a higher-income Canadian, but because their income is low and they do not pay tax or much tax, they are excluded from the benefit. That is a gross unfairness. Item number one in reforming our tax system would be to make those tax credits refundable so that they are available for all Canadians and not just for well-heeled Canadians.

That is just one tiny item in the overall scheme of things. We need an overall review of our tax system, which has not happened for nearly 50 years, and it is high time that this was done. We do support the bill. Our complaint is that it is far too late in coming.

I will go over a few of the provisions of the bill. I obviously cannot cover in detail the nearly 1,000 pages of changed legislation. One of the problems with it is that it is just too much to absorb correctly all in one bite and to analyze appropriately. However, I will mention some of the things that would be changed.

There would be changes to the foreign affiliate rules, which would probably be the most important changes for business. These changes would generally be considered to be relieving for business, although they also would increase the complexity of meeting those tax obligations.

On income trusts, the bill would affect how debt would be treated when an income tax trust is taken over by a corporation after the infamous 2006 income trust tax announcement.

There would be a change for employment insurance. Now that self-employed individuals can contribute to EI, Bill C-48 would ensure those contributions would be deducted from annual income for taxation purposes in the same manner that an employee's contributions are deducted.

On GST, first nations would be able to choose to levy a sales tax on reserve by allowing the Canada Revenue Agency to collect and administer the tax. All money collected would be returned to the band council. Bill C-48 would allow Revenu Québec to fulfill that same function.

On labour-sponsored venture funds, in 2010 the Province of Ontario announced it was phasing out its tax credit for labour-sponsored venture funds by 2014. Many of those funds are no longer attracting the capital they need to continue as labour-sponsored funds, and the fund administrators have asked that they become mutual funds. However, the Income Tax Act imposes some severe federal penalties for making that switch. Bill C-48 would waive those penalties in recognition of the Ontario government's change. It would also allow shareholders to sell their shares to other investors instead of back to the fund.

Finally, on airlines, provinces and taxes, this clarifies the allocation of miles flown over certain territorial waters for the purpose of provincial taxation.

As we will see from that list, none of those items is likely to make a headline, but cumulatively, when added together, the absence of such provisions in our income tax law adds complexity and costs and reduces the competitiveness of the Canadian economy. That is why the Liberal Party, while supporting this bill, would also make a plea to the government that the next such housecleaning bill be introduced in the House approximately one year from today.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

February 15th, 2013 / 10:15 a.m.
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Oshawa Ontario

Conservative

Colin Carrie ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health

Mr. Speaker, from my colleague's speech, I take it that it is a certainty that he will be supporting the Conservatives in moving forward with these amendments to close loopholes. However, I am wondering if he could clarify the position of the Liberal Party.

His colleague from Kings—Hants, I believe, put through 3,000 amendments. Some of the amendments would actually stop us from closing some of these loopholes. In the best interests of Canadians, would he clarify what the Liberal position is? Would he and the Liberal Party be working with us to make sure that this is expedited and moved through as quickly as possible?

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

February 15th, 2013 / 10:20 a.m.
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Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Mr. Speaker, I guess the hon. member would have to consult the member for Kings—Hants to get clarification on that point.

My own view is that these measures are far too late, perhaps 11 years too late. My view is that if they can be passed, they should be passed as quickly as possible. As I also said, I hope we have another much smaller set of technical amendments, perhaps a year from now.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

February 15th, 2013 / 10:20 a.m.
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NDP

Randall Garrison NDP Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC

Mr. Speaker, New Democrats are certainly interested in closing tax loopholes. I was very interested in the parliamentary secretary's comments on amendments introduced by the Liberals that might prevent us from closing tax loopholes.

The hon. member talks about this being 11 years late. However, during the first five and a half years of that 11 years, his party was in government, and I believe that he was a minister. If he believes that these should be introduced every year, what happened during those five years when the Liberals were in government?

It is important that we update our tax code and that businesses have a clear idea of what is expected.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012Government Orders

February 15th, 2013 / 10:20 a.m.
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Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am not saying that the Liberal governments of the past were in every respect 100% perfect. However, I think we were certainly much better on this issue than the current government, because we introduced changes that took effect in 2001 and other changes that would have taken effect under a Liberal government in 2005. When we were defeated, the Conservatives took over those changes, and they dropped the ball until today.

I think there is scope for improvement on the part of all Canadian governments. I do not think any of them have brought in changes as frequently as once per year. In the intervening time, since the Auditor General's report of 2009 and the accountants' reports I quoted earlier, it has become clearer to all that once per year would be the ideal frequency of these housekeeping bills.