Evidence of meeting #72 for International Trade in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was information.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Thank you.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here.
It strikes me that there are two issues about this tax that have caused concern among residents.
One is the fact that it seems unfair, to many, in how it's applied, in terms of the boundaries of the rural districts and the urban districts.
Then, there's the issue of just having to file a return when you otherwise wouldn't normally have to.
Mr. Khan, both of those are baked into the legislation. Is that correct?
Director General, Business Returns Directorate; Assessment, Benefit and Service Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
Yes, that's correct.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Okay.
Would the CRA have anything to do with notifying people that they may...? You know, we have American residents who have holiday homes in Canada. Say somebody buys a holiday home. How would they even know they had to pay this tax?
Would the CRA have anything to do with that?
Director General, Business Returns Directorate; Assessment, Benefit and Service Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
The CRA, Madam Chair, does not have, of course, all the information related to people who might be subject to this piece of legislation. At least at the start, we don't have that information.
In terms of communication, we reach out using broader comms as opposed to targeted, client-specific communication. You might have seen, for example, a municipal government sending out very directed communication when they introduced their pieces of legislation. They were privy to a lot more information than CRA has.
In our case, our focus of communication has been much broader in nature. It's through Canada.ca, our web portal. We have used a lot of social media, for example, to communicate. We have reached out to the industry—through CPA Canada, for example—to promote the products we have put out there for the clients to see.
NDP
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Okay.
I'm kind of out of questions, so I'll cede the rest of my time back to Mr. Baldinelli.
NDP
Conservative
Dave Epp Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not sure I'll be able to extend the generosity. I do have a number of questions.
Conservative
Dave Epp Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
I'll work on it.
My understanding is that there was a broad agreement in the House that the issue of house pricing in Canada needed to be addressed. I don't think there was argument from any side of the aisle here. However, on the underutilized housing tax, in my own constituency offices, I'm in a rural part of Canada, an ag part of Canada, and I have heard a lot from national ag organizations.
I'll start with some specific questions. Did the minister direct the department to focus on rural Canada in addressing housing prices through a UHT?
Special Advisor to the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Revenue Agency
You referred to “the minister” in your question. I believe you'd be referring to the Minister of Finance as opposed to the Minister of National Revenue, so that question would likely be better answered by colleagues at Finance Canada.
Conservative
Dave Epp Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
Have you had feedback into your offices from rural Canada endorsing this tax and endorsing this approach? You've had 30,000—
Special Advisor to the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Revenue Agency
We've heard from a variety of stakeholders on the issue of the levy itself. Generally speaking, we hear from individuals with respect to issues of how the levy would apply to them or not.
Conservative
Dave Epp Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
Ag accounting is somewhat specialized. I've heard from a number of accounting firms at my offices. Has the department experienced any lobbying in the development of this tax and in your consultations in 2021 for rural accountants looking for more work and more filing?
Special Advisor to the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Revenue Agency
The consultations were the purview of Finance colleagues. They would have the answers to that question.
Conservative
Dave Epp Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
I can tell you what I've heard from accounting firms. They are not looking to be selfish here. They were very poorly consulted. They are looking for ways to simplify the process.
Again, to come back to the overall arching policy, is this not to address housing prices? I'm looking for the reason the UHT does this in rural Canada.
Special Advisor to the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Revenue Agency
Again, a question about the broad policy intent of the legislation would be better put to the Department of Finance.
Conservative
Dave Epp Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
I've heard from the National Cattle Feeders. I've heard from the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada and from a number of provincial organizations regarding particularly horticulture. The cattle sector, which uses a lot of temporary foreign workers, has program requirements that require them to having housing on farm as a condition of a federal program. How does addressing taxing or exemption filing address the housing price crisis in Canada when it comes to housing for temporary foreign workers?
Special Advisor to the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Revenue Agency
That is a question that we've engaged with industry on in terms of how those accommodation units would be dealt with. That's certainly an issue that we are aware of, yes.
Conservative
Dave Epp Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
Would it be fair to say that this would be an unintended consequence of a policy directed at a different problem?
Special Advisor to the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Revenue Agency
Again, I think those questions on the intent of the legislation would be best placed to the Department of Finance.
Conservative
Dave Epp Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
Okay.
If that is an unintended consequence, on the corporate filing wouldn't a simple tick box that indicates they have housing requirements for temporary foreign workers be sufficient to trigger the exemption on a one-time filing? Then, maybe if things change, that could be done. Similarly, I've heard from numerous corporate farms who have their personal housing, housing of their senior lead employees or family members who are involved in the enterprise. This is all capturing that.
Again, does this address the primary focus of the intent of this legislation?
Special Advisor to the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Revenue Agency
I appreciate the comment. I appreciate the information on those situations as well. That's certainly something we can look at in terms of our administration and how best to address those concerns.
Thank you.
Conservative
Dave Epp Conservative Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON
Exactly. I get that it's broad and overarching, but the suggestion is on a one-time filing indication on the tax form. Would that not both capture the intent of the policy and also exempt the whole rural community from the unintended consequences? I think we're all in favour of the broad policy goals, but I think we're all scratching our heads in terms of the implementation of a tax.
I'll go there next. This is also for information gathering. Can you comment on what information you're after? I have heard that this is more to get at the one-time personal residence exemption than it has anything to do about housing prices in Canada. Can you comment?
