Finance committee  It's most likely correct. I'm not an expert in law, but I don't expect that the liability would lie on an employee in such a situation.

Finance committee  Again, for a salaried employee, I'm not an expert in the law, but it's my view that a salaried employee would face different legal obligations than an employer.

Finance committee  Again, these are special legal distinctions between those who are incorporated and those who aren't, and those who are employees and those who aren't. Those are clear distinctions.

Finance committee  That number sounds reasonable. Again, I have to defer to Mr. Kelly.

Finance committee  There certainly are different circumstances.

Finance committee  Sure. Thank you for the question. I am an academic, so I'm going to start at the principles, but then I'll get into the specific example. The principle here again is one of neutrality. We want a tax system that doesn't either favour or disfavour saving inside the companies. What this means is that we have to compare the taxation of savings inside a company with savings outside a company.

Finance committee  I thank the member for the question. There are a couple of things. First, I think it's great that we can agree on the principle of neutrality as being an important goal to strive for. I think that is the right goal for our tax system: to make sure that it encourages growth and also is fair to all Canadians.

Finance committee  Yes, I think it's a good question. I think there are clear advantages for those who incorporate. I think the right comparison is not necessarily to think about a regular salaried worker versus a small business person, but again, within the business sector, those who are incorporated versus those who aren't.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Chair, and thank you, members, for convening the meeting. I'd like to make two quick points this morning. The first one is about the goals of the reform, and the second one is about the implementation of the reform. As I see it, the main goal of the reform is to push towards neutrality of the tax system.

Finance committee  I have a quick response to that with two quick points. The first is that on the question of mobility of high earners, there is certainly some evidence that there is some sensitivity of high earners to tax rates, but I think we don't want to overestimate that, especially when we're looking at moving between Canada and the U.S.

Finance committee  I will be brief, Mr. Easter. Thank you for the question. I agree with my co-panellists on the importance of looking at the effectiveness of different tax expenditures. However, I think it's important to also pick up on a point made by Mr. Caron, which is the complexity of the system.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. I'll be brief. I have a couple of comments on Bill C-2. I have a couple of points to make about the new 33% top tax bracket and its impact on government revenues and tax planning and tax avoidance. The first comment is just to emphasize the importance of considering the differences between federal taxation and provincial taxation.