Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm Lindsay Gwyer, director general, legislation, at the Department of Finance. I'm here to talk about part 1. A number of my colleagues are also here to answer questions on part 1. Part 1 contains the income tax measures in the bill. There are about 20 measures, so I won't be able to describe them all, but I'll just do a very high-level summary of several of the key ones.

Finance committee  I think that could be an option. That's not what is being done here.

Finance committee  The cost is $11 million over six years.

Finance committee  I don't have that information in front of me.

Finance committee  Yes, we can do that. I don't know if the information is available, but we can see.

Finance committee  As I said, I think it was a policy decision looking at the costs that are expended and the amount of the credit historically. It was determined that it would be appropriate to increase the credit to double the amount.

Finance committee  For someone who is carrying on a business, there aren't similar limitations. The Income Tax Act generally allows people who are carrying on a business, or requires them, to compute their profits. In doing that, they would be able to deduct reasonable expenses that they incur in the course of carrying on business.

Finance committee  Well, that's generally right, but with the way the rules are designed, the general expectation is that employers will bear the costs that are required to allow employees to perform their jobs. In a context of significant expenses, it is likely to expect that the employer would be the one bearing that cost.

Finance committee  Again, the Income Tax Act in general doesn't allow employees to claim amounts in respect of their employment. Employees are able to claim the Canada employment credit. In 2023 it's $1,368. That is intended to compensate employees for some of the costs they may incur in the course of their employment.

Finance committee  In general, when there's a policy change to allow a credit or a deduction that wasn't previously available, it wouldn't be typical to go back and make that retroactive. For one thing, it would create administrative issues by requiring the CRA to deal with people filing amended tax returns.

Finance committee  That's right.

Finance committee  They're separate amendments, but they both amend the same section in the Income Tax Act. They're both in clause 3. Yes, there is a form for an employee to claim deductions for amounts that the employee has to pay in the course of their employment, but that is only possible in limited circumstances.

Finance committee  The current deduction is $500. I think it was recognized that the cost of tools has increased along with other things, and it would be appropriate at this time to increase the amount of the deduction. It was a policy decision to double the amount of the deduction.

Finance committee  That was just identified as an appropriate amount to allow as a deduction in this case in looking at the expenses that are incurred.

Finance committee  I don't have that information in front of me.