Evidence of meeting #2 for Finance in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was budget.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
In terms of follow-up, what is happening with the statutory review of the CRA? Is that automatically renewed or is that something that has to get done?
Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency
The committee will decide on that. As you know, there is a statutory review in our act. We tabled a report of the first five years of existence of the agency. I don't know if, according to the rules, we need to re-table it. We would do that voluntarily, but the debate has not taken place.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
We never did finish the review, and there were some questions.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Okay.
Just to get back to what Mr. Turner was saying, you're saying that now.... The tax rates went from 16% down to 15%, based on the Liberal...and that's okay, that's legislated. What happens now that it's going to go back up to--
Liberal
John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON
The question is whether the budget raised the tax from 15%.
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
Is the budget officially going to raise it back to 15.5%, or is it a reduction from 16%?
Liberal
Massimo Pacetti Liberal Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC
So we're looking at a tax increase. That's official, that it is an increase from 15% to 15.5%?
Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency
I understand that in the budget proposal--you could confirm this with the Department of Finance on Wednesday--there's a change in the marginal tax rate.
Conservative
Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency
Mr. Chairman, if I may, the last thing I would want to do is induce any errors here, so I would like the opportunity to review the numbers on the GST costs. The problem is that the CBSA, the border agency, collects some and we collect some. I'd like to consult the Department of Finance and come back to the committee with the exact figures. The numbers I have now are also different in here.
So I'd like the opportunity to spend a few days to make sure that the committee has the exact figures.
Conservative
Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I'm sorry about that.
Conservative
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Just by way of follow-up, I want to be clear on this issue of the 15% or 16%. Was it or was it not legislated previously?
Conservative
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
It was not legislated. How would it be enacted, then, for it to happen in the past year?
Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency
The agency acts on the basis of the ways and means motion to change the marginal tax rate. My understanding is that part of the budget bill would establish it at 15% for the past year, and I think at 15.5% for the years to come. That would be in the budget bill.
Conservative
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
So the reduction would actually be based on the legislation passed this year.
Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency
Yes. It's not uncommon. There is a reference to it in Beauchesne’s. When a government tables a set of budget measures, we don't have any choice; we have to start getting ready.
Conservative
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
If one were to, say, vote against this year's budget, one would actually be voting against the tax decrease of the previous year.
Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency
If the budget bill does not pass, we would have to reassess.
Conservative
Rick Dykstra Conservative St. Catharines, ON
Interesting; I'm learning a lot here today.
In terms of adjustments to reconcile this, what is included in all of that? Is that just things that are missed throughout the year? I'm looking at page 4, table II, under “Adjustments to reconcile to the 2005 Budget”.
