Finance committee  No. That's absolutely correct. The additional deduction is unique in providing this tax advantage to the credit union and caisse populaire section. There are no other equivalent provisions to provide extended access to the small business deduction for other businesses or corporat

Finance committee  Absolutely. Across Canada, provinces may or may not offer an equivalent form of the additional deduction. Quebec, in particular, eliminated it in 2003. Alberta does not offer a special deduction for credit unions, nor do New Brunswick, Newfoundland, or Nova Scotia.

Finance committee  The mineral exploration tax credit was first introduced in 2000. There was a brief period when it expired on December 31, 2005, and it was reintroduced on May 2, 2006. Other than that roughly four- to five-month period, it's been in continuous effect since 2000.

Finance committee  You'll see when you look at those budget numbers that as the additional deduction is phased out, there's an increasing revenue impact. It reflects two things over that period. It reflects the forecast growth in the base of corporate taxable income, as well as forecast growth in

Finance committee  At the time it was introduced there was a cumulative taxable income limit that applied to all businesses, so you were able to shelter income at the preferential tax rate up until you had reached a certain level of taxable income. You could regenerate access to that by paying divi

Finance committee  You're absolutely right. Significant reductions have been put in place. The small business tax rate has been lowered to 11%, and at the same time the amount of income eligible for that preferred lower rate has been increased to $500,000. In the budget, you'll note that it refers

Finance committee  Sure. I think the basic idea in phasing out the additional deduction is to put credit unions and caisses populaires on a level playing field, a level tax playing field, with other corporations.

Finance committee  With other businesses; there's no other area where the small business deduction is allowed extended access for a particular group of business. So really, it puts the small business deduction consistently available to all businesses in Canada.

Finance committee  I would make the point that credit unions and caisse populaires offer a broad range of financial services. They compete in that market, and that's the reason for levelling the tax playing field. This measure was not discussed ahead of time with the credit union sector.

Finance committee  That's correct.

Finance committee  Our estimation is included in the budget framework, and it's less than—

Finance committee  —the $660 million from the CME.

Finance committee  Overall, I'd just go back to that number. There are about 25,000 R and D claimants overall. We wouldn't break it down at a micro level in terms of the application of each measure. That may change over time as well. A company may incur capital in one year, but not in another, for

Finance committee  In terms of looking at the use of the proxy amount, it was felt that reducing that by 10 points, from 65 to 55, was reasonable in these circumstances. Again, there is the fact that companies retain the ability to track their actual overhead expenses and use that if it's more adva

Finance committee  Certainly, we would look at the measure overall in terms of the impact of capital. Some may be more capital intensive than others. Again, those same industries, for example, may benefit more profoundly from the removal of the capital tax or from some of the capital cost allowance