Finance committee  Well, first the committee would have to recommend to Parliament that when technical legislation is brought forward, it is actually given serious consideration and attention. And perhaps this committee could also, from time to time, if they haven't heard from Finance, actually ask

Finance committee  I would just make a few comments. First, as far as Bill C-48 is concerned, as you heard from the Department of Finance, it's primarily trying to ensure that it captures essentially the integrity of the current system. I don't think it's necessarily dealing with more broadly based

Finance committee  Could I comment on that? I would tell this committee that I've been dealing with the director general, Mickey Sarazin, on this issue. He's come to the joint committee on taxation to actually look for our suggestions on improving the timeliness of these rulings. First, I know tha

Finance committee  I'm not in a position to tell you specific timelines. I can tell you that these suggestions, of which the joint committee has given 10 specific ones, have been taken to the most senior levels of the CRA, and certainly with some exceptions they're generally supportive of it and th

Finance committee  I certainly have no problem with some undertaking that they make all reasonable efforts to bring forward legislation. You would hope that annually is the minimum, but, frankly, there may be times when you would introduce something even more frequently because of the circumstances

Finance committee  I think it's been described previously. I think the average Canadian is benefiting because the advisers who they may have to use now have greater certainty in the legislation, so the cost of complying with the legislation is that much easier.

Finance committee  I think it's hard to call 1,000 pages of legislation simple. I think they've improved legislation, made it clearer where they had to; I think that's where you're getting your savings. This is a complex set of legislative changes. I think that's the real benefit we have from this

Finance committee  Just to be right up front, I'd say no. Certainly, we support what's been stated before, and you've heard time and time again that regular passing of technical amendments is important. But you have to realize that there are different circumstances, and to put undue pressure on som

Finance committee  The first comment is that I think it is useful for taxpayers and tax advisers to know the Department of Finance's position, so in that sense I think it is working very well, and it's very much appreciated. Clearly, what isn't working well is if a comfort letter gets issued at one

Finance committee  Thank you very much. Good morning. My name is Gabe Hayos, vice-president of taxation for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. On behalf of Canada's 82,000 chartered accountants, thank you for the opportunity to appear before this committee. In my role as vice-presid

Finance committee  Well, I think there's a bit of a misnomer in terms of tax havens. I think the first thing you have to recognize about tax rates, as we've talked about—and that's why we talk about keeping our rates low—is that it's all an issue of competitiveness. I think what we're opposed to is

Finance committee  Yes. Deficits matter tremendously. I think that, really, the analogy is no different from that of an individual who has to borrow. I think we have to be able to manage it. As we see in Europe and other places, when the deficit is out of control and we're borrowing, and the risk t

Finance committee  It has 82,000 members.

Finance committee  No, they didn't ask me.

Finance committee  Yes.