Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Lakeland for providing an opportunity to address the issue of making mechanics tools deductible.
On a personal level I inform the member that I am certainly quite familiar with the issue. I have met on several occasions with the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association that has consistently raised concern regarding deductibility of tools as well as with individuals in my own constituency who own dealerships and employ mechanics that find themselves in this situation. They have also been very effective in advocating the case for the deductibility of tools.
I also assure my hon. colleagues that the government has been working on this issue and has found the interventions made by mechanics, their related associations and members of parliament to be quite helpful.
Having expressed our willingness to find solutions that will assist mechanics with regard to this issue, I want to spend a few moments outlining where some of the difficulties need to be addressed with respect to Bill C-366.
Tax recognition generally is not available for work related employee expenses because employers normally provide the items required for employees to perform their duties. While this is true as a general rule, individuals in some occupations including mechanics incur substantial expenses as a condition of employment.
However, mechanics are not the only occupation that incurs substantial expenses as a requirement of employment. Other expenditures for which tax recognition might be sought include personal computers purchased by employees, reading material, professional journals, business clothing, uniforms and construction safety clothing, home office expenses, and tools for employee trades persons, just to name a few.
Due to these realities we must look at adopting a more all encompassing approach than is proposed by the bill if we are to be able to be justified in providing the requested tax relief for mechanics. Any change in the tax treatment of employee equipment expenses would need to address all employee expenses incurred as a requirement of employment in a fair and consistent manner.
This private member's bill would also provide tax relief to all mechanics irrespective of the size of their expenditures instead of targeting relief to those incurring extraordinary expenses.
There are also a number of other issues which this private member's bill fails to consider that must be addressed before such a measure could actually be implemented. For example, provisions would need to be developed to ensure that tax relief is provided only for those items genuinely required as a condition of employment and not for those purchased for personal use. I am sure all members of the House would agree a tax deductibility or tax expenditure for personal use items would not be something they would support.
Given this consideration, providing full tax recognition as proposed by the bill would be unwarranted. The provisions needed to address these issues would inevitably be complex as they would need to account for a large variety of items for which tax recognition may be claimed and the different work situations in which such items are used.
To put the problem in context, consider the expensive provisions needed to ensure the equitable recognition of automobile expenses. Provisions governing the deductibility of employee equipment expenditures would apply to hundreds of disparate items and numerous occupations.
We need to take the appropriate amount of time and consultation. Some of that consultation has taken place with respect to the prebudget consultations in the finance committee which, as the hon. member so rightly pointed out, recommended this item be consider. We need consultation with respect to the affected sectors and to work through how such a tax deduction might work, minimizing its complexity while providing effective relief.
In light of what I have discussed it is clear that the government is serious about undertaking further studies on this matter so that a just and workable solution can be found for mechanics, taxpayers and the government.
I want to restate that the intent is one that would provide tax recognition not only for mechanics but for all those occupations that may find themselves in the same situation as the situation of mechanics described by my colleague across the way that have to make substantial expenditures and are not able to deduct them because they are employees and are not incorporated organizations.
The issue is one that the government will continue to work on. The interventions today by the hon. member are helpful in assisting the government to continue to pursue the issue. We will continue to speak with associations like the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association which has made numerous interventions, which I am sure has consulted with the hon. member across the way, and which has spoken with the department and myself in particular.
We are continuing to work on the issue. I thank the member opposite for bringing this important issue to the floor of the House for debate. I also thank him for the work he has done on the bill so far. I assure him and other members of the House that we will continue to work together to address the issue in a meaningful way. I say this in a non-partisan fashion.
I noticed in his opening remarks the hon. member was somewhat partisan, but I assure him we want to ensure the issue is dealt with in the most effective way, one that would reduce complexity, ensure efficiency and be in the best interest of the taxpayers, the government and the particular sectors that may be affected by it.