Mr. Speaker, I have a few comments on my friend's point of order that may prove helpful to the Chair.
First of all, we note that the four motions he brings forward today are, as he mentioned, similar to motions that were already proposed and defeated at committee stage. Further, they are flawed on so many levels that it is difficult to know where to begin, but I will touch on just a few of the many problems with these proposed amendments. Fortunately for all concerned, I believe they are entirely out of order and that the Speaker will find them so, but I do want to add the concerns that the House should be aware of.
It is well recognized that rules of parliamentary procedure preclude the introduction of a motion to amend a bill if the motion exceeds the scope of the notice of ways and means motion on which the bill is based, without the introduction of a new notice of ways and means motion on which the House has concurred. Further, the introduction of a motion is precluded if it increases the amount of an appropriation without having first obtained a royal recommendation.
Contrary to what my friend just said, these motions fail on both of those counts. The hon. member for Markham—Unionvale did not obtain the concurrence of this House on these motions before they were moved, nor was a royal recommendation obtained. Thus, these motions should be ruled out of order on this basis alone.
Furthermore, an amendment that would make a clause unintelligible is also out of order. For reasons which I will explain, the proposed amendments are simply incomprehensible. Accordingly, these motions should be ruled out of order. Should they proceed, they should be defeated on the basis of their confusion and questionable policy. I would like to explain briefly.
Motion No. 1 proposed by the hon. member for Markham-Unionvale is a prime example of an amendment that renders a clause unintelligible. In particular, the draft purports to apply a 10% tax on certain distributions made by trusts described in subsection 197(1). The difficulty here is that there are no trusts described in subsection 197(1), either as proposed in the bill or as amended by any other motions put forward by the hon. member. Accordingly, the motion is totally ineffectual and should on that basis alone be ruled out of order.
However, if one were to give the hon. member the benefit of the doubt and accept that the amendment proposed is actually meant to reference a trust described elsewhere, then there is another problem. I suspect the hon. member thinks he is reducing the trust distribution tax proposed by this bill to 10%. However, the text of the motion actually adds the proposed 10% tax to the existing 29% tax applicable to trusts.
Hence, the motion would, if one could make sense of it, expose trusts to a 39% tax on distributions of non-portfolio earnings. This compares with the 31.5% tax proposed in the bill for 2011 and therefore clearly represents a tax increase. This tax increase is not within the scope of the notice of ways and means motion on which the bill is based and the motion should therefore be ruled out of order.
Motion No. 2 appears to be another attempt to impose a 10% tax on SIFT trusts, curiously in a part of the act that is under the title “Tax on SIFT Partnerships”. Further, this 10% tax purports to apply to all distributions by SIFT trusts and not just distributions on non-portfolio earnings. The text of the motion also again adds the proposed 10% tax to the existing 29% tax applicable to trusts.
Hence, if we ignore Motion No. 1, Motion No. 2 would expose trusts to a 39% tax on distributions by SIFT trusts.
On the other hand, the hon. member who tabled these motions has given no indication that the motions are to be alternatives. Accordingly, Motions No. 1 and 2, read together, would increase the tax on distributions by trusts of non-portfolio earnings to 49%.
Both of these scenarios would clearly be a tax increase, which exceeds the scope of the notice of ways and means motion on which the bill is based, and should, therefore, again, be ruled out of order. Indeed, by proposing such tax increases, one has to wonder what the hon. member has against income trusts.
Motion No. 2 also expresses a very strange policy. It subjects existing income trusts to the new Liberal tax but does not apply this tax to new trusts created after October 2006. Motion No. 2 goes on to allow individual Canadian residents to claim a refund of an amount designated by an issuer of the security in prescribed form. The member talked about that.
Further, the motion goes on to allow a beneficiary of an RRSP to claim a refundable tax credit equal to the amount of the tax paid by a SIFT trust or partnership. This would create a right for any beneficiary of an RRSP, whether or not liable to pay tax, to receive an amount to be taken out of the consolidated revenue fund.
Given that this motion would require that money be taken out of the consolidation revenue fund, it should be ruled out of order on the basis that it was not accompanied by a royal recommendation.
Again, the motion shows the difficulty that the hon. member's party has with developing tax policy.
The bill before us today already allows for a dividend tax credit claimable by Canadian resident individuals and respective trust distributions that are subject to the SIFT tax.
The dividend tax credit is intended to provide an offset against tax payable by an individual up to the amount of tax payable on the distribution of the trust. This distribution is deemed to be a dividend eligible for a dividend tax credit.
This motion would allow an individual to claim a refund for the trust tax paid but would also allow a dividend tax credit to be claimed on the same income. Perhaps the double credit for the individual investors has some connection with the Liberal proposal to tax trusts at 39% or 49%, but I suspect it is just another example of the flaws in the thinking behind these motions.
As well, the refund for individuals is in an amount designated by the trust in prescribed form, but no guidance is provided for the calculation of the amount that can actually be refunded. Could it actually exceed the tax paid by the trust on the distribution?
Just briefly again, let me say a few things about Motion No. 3. Motion No. 3 adds yet another 10% tax to trusts that fail to comply with the provisions of the part of the bill that apply to SIFT partnerships. Now we have an amendment in the partnership provisions that purports to add yet another 10% tax not only on SIFT partnerships but also on SIFT trusts. This time bringing the tax up to what, 59%?
There is precious little in the partnership provisions that a trust could be non-compliant with. Or, it is just an attempt to confuse. Again, this motion clearly purports to effect an increase in a tax that would exceed the scope of the notice of ways and means motion on which the bill is based and should therefore again be ruled out of order.
Finally, Motion No. 4 is consequential to the other motions. Since those earlier motions should be ruled out of order so, too, should Motion No. 4.
I trust you will find that of assistance, Mr. Speaker.