That's a very loaded question. To answer your question in light of the different decisions that might be rendered in one jurisdiction or another, I do not believe in my experience and the experience of practitioners that I have discussed this with across the country that that is as a result of regulation. We believe it is as a result of inefficient communication within the agency itself. Realistically, given the same set of factors, the same taxpayers, and the same circumstances, the decision on something such as whether they are self-employed or an employee should be the same no matter where they live in Canada.
What we find is that there is inconsistency in applying the typical criteria, and part of that, we believe, based on feedback we've gotten from the department itself at some of these committees, is that auditors in Calgary, for instance, rarely have any opportunity to discuss these matters with auditors in Halifax. There don't seem to be the types of team meetings amongst the groups that would allow for discussion of these issues to make sure that everybody is on the same line with that.
As to your question about complexity of the regulations in the Income Tax Act, we have in our budget submissions for the last five years requesting that there be a thorough look at a structural reform of the Income Tax Act, because as we mentioned, people are willing and happy to comply when the legislation is “predictable and reliable”.
What we seem to be seeing is that it has gotten so complex that rules may be introduced to plug a little hole here in the dam, but doing so causes water to pop out over there, and then they plug there. So it seems more of a patchwork approach, rather than a consistent approach to try to ensure proper compliance with the act as a whole.