Bill C-222 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (Canada-Barbados Income Tax Agreement)

This bill is from the 42nd Parliament, 1st session, which ended in September 2019.

Sponsor

Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)

Status

Outside the Order of Precedence (a private member's bill that hasn't yet won the draw that determines which private member's bills can be debated), as of Feb. 25, 2016
(This bill did not become law.)

Summary

This is from the published bill.

This enactment amends the Income Tax Act in order to include, in the definition “taxable Canadian business”, any business that is entitled to a special tax benefit conferred by Barbados under the Canada-Barbados Income Tax Agreement Act, 1980.

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.

Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-222s:

C-222 (2021) An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (travel expenses deduction for tradespersons)

C-222 (2020) An Act to amend the Expropriation Act (protection of private property)

C-222 (2013) Military and Veteran Families Week Act

C-222 (2011) Military and Veteran Families Week Act

C-222 (2010) An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (physical activity and amateur sport fees)

Income Tax ActRoutine Proceedings

February 17th, 2016 / 3:15 p.m.

Bloc

Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette, QC

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-222, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (Canada-Barbados Income Tax Agreement).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to introduce a bill to amend the Income Tax Act in order to close tax loopholes that exist in Barbados, which is Canada's tax haven. Companies that generate profits there can repatriate those funds to Canada tax-free, even though that is not what is set out in the tax treaty.

The GDP of Barbados is roughly the same as that of my hometown, Joliette. On paper, however, Canadian companies invest three times more in Barbados than in France. For years now, the government has been saying that we need to wait for all countries around the world to take action before we tackle the problem. It says that nothing can be done through legislation. This bill proves that it is possible to take action through legislation. It sends a powerful message.

Finding the loophole in the maze made up of the act, the regulations, and the treaties was not easy. I want to thank everyone who helped me, including the experts I consulted and the groups that are calling for an end to tax havens. I also want to thank the legal officers of the House, who did a huge amount of work in very little time to draft this bill in impeccable legal form.

I am not suggesting that this bill solves everything. White collar criminals are very creative. However, by closing the loophole that exists in Barbados, this bill makes an important contribution to our efforts to create a fairer tax system.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)