Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It is an honour to address you, the new House of Commons finance committee, on budget 2020 today. It's nice to see some familiar faces and to meet the new members. Thank you for your continued leadership.
MNP is a leading national accounting, tax advisory and business consulting firm. We proudly serve 180,000 private enterprises and small business clients and 19,000 farms throughout Canada. MNP is the third-largest tax filer in the country.
Kim and I are here today to encourage fairness, certainty and a balanced approach on two of the government's policy initiatives for this budget. The first initiative is tax changes for family farm succession. We recommend that all businesses—a farm or any other family-owned business—be treated fairly and equally when transitioning within a family. Second, in regard to the government's election commitment to implement interest deductibility limitations, we encourage Parliament to undertake broad consultations and avoid harmful unintended consequences. The stakes are incredibly high on both of these issues. Let me briefly elaborate.
We commend the government for making family farm succession a priority. We believe this is an issue for every Canadian family business. Currently, Canadian business owners experience a penalty when selling a business within their family, such that there is often double tax. Both the parent and the child must pay tax on that same transaction. In our written submission, you can see Tracy and Marc's dilemma of selling their bakery to their daughter or to a third party. Marc and Tracy want to keep this business within the family. Our tax system encourages them to sell it outside of the family.
To remedy this, amend the existing provisions to allow all family businesses to use the lifetime capital gains exemption within the family. This isn't just about the lifetime capital gains exemption; we must also ensure that capital gains treatment is protected on every family sale.
On the second issue, we call for a cautious and prudent approach to the government's intention to limit business interest deductions. The parliamentary budget office estimates that businesses will be limited to deducting interest from their taxable income to no more than 30% of their earnings before interest, taxes and amortization. This increases the overall effective tax rate for businesses in Canada. This is like an interest rate hike.
Other countries have gone down this path. If we look to other OECD countries that have implemented interest deduction limitation rules, they typically use a three-pronged approach. There is introducing the interest deductibility limitation, lowering the corporate tax rate and introducing enhanced capital expenditure incentives. Canada should follow this three-pronged model. Just doing interest deduction limitations on their own will impact Canada's competitiveness. Highly leveraged companies across Canada, such as auto dealerships, hotels, home builders, commercial construction and family farming operations, will be harmed. In times of economic downturn, reduced earnings will limit the interest expense even further. Business decisions will change: Do we buy this asset? Do we expand? Do we buy this business? Do we remain in Canada?
From a public policy perspective, interest deductibility concerns stem mainly from ensuring that profits are not shifted outside of Canada without being taxed. Canada already has rules to address this. If cross-border tax issues are the motivation for these changes, the solution should be specific to cross-border issues. We would like to reiterate that businesses do not borrow money for the sole purpose of taking an interest deduction. Our written submission shares the example of Marie and Jacques. They are trying to start up an organic family farm. With these interest limitations, their family business may never get off the ground.
As parliamentarians, you have a great responsibility. We encourage you to eliminate the disadvantage of selling a family business within the family. We encourage you to do a thorough consultation on interest deductibility limitations before you proceed. Canadian family businesses and our country's competitiveness are at stake.
Thank you. Kim would be happy to take any questions you may have.