I would say generally that the work of the Department of Finance, certainly in the tax policy branch, is to examine proposals that the government asks us to examine and also other aspects of the system. When we look at proposals to introduce new tax credits or new aspects of the system, we're looking at it from the tax policy perspective to see how that is going to promote fairness and efficiency in the tax system. The perspective that we generally take is that a broad-based tax system that allows for low rates and doesn't distort economic decision-making is usually the best kind of system.
We also look at administrative issues. How would a tax credit be designed? How would it be best designed to serve the purpose? Is the design of a tax credit going to be the most effective way to lead to the desired outcome? Oftentimes, tax credits are.... The tax system has a broad application, so if you're targeting a single area and you use a broad instrument like the tax system, you may be supporting things that businesses might do anyway, in which case you're going to provide a windfall gain to economic actors who would have undertaken certain action anyway. You're not going to change their behaviour, because they would have acted that way. In that case, that might not be most targeted way to support the activity.
I think in the area of.... Newspapers are a thing that people know, and you could sort of say that here's something that people understand, how they're produced, and where they're bought. I think that when you go into the digital aspect, again, for the design aspects on how it would apply and how it would affect... Because it's such a cross-border thing and it's a different type of media, those aspects would become important elements of any proposal. How would it work? How would you target it? How would you ensure its effectiveness? Those are all the considerations that we certainly would look at from the view of the Department of Finance in assessing any policy proposals brought forward.