Finance committee  Yes. I can start by saying that complexity is relative as well. It depends upon which countries around the world we are comparing it to. If we compare Canada to the U.S., for example, I'd say Canada is in pretty good shape relative to the complexity. On some of the other suggest

Finance committee  That would achieve it.

Finance committee  Yes, the rules are complex and oftentimes there will be debate. There are grey areas in the law, and sometimes the auditor will have a view and the taxpayer will have a view. Ultimately it's up to the courts to resolve those situations. All of that is fair game and it falls withi

Finance committee  Audits happen and they always will.

Finance committee  We were supportive of the initiative. What we're suggesting is that people need to act at the same time. We wouldn't want to see Canada taking steps sooner—

Finance committee  Correct.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  In terms of treaty shopping, there was a proposal put forward in the last budget. In our view, in terms of the way that it was described in the budget documents, it was going to create a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not a Canadian company could access the treaty with the o

Finance committee  The regimes are all different, so I wouldn't be able to say exactly how that works in each regime, but in principle, in terms of large versus small, I would see it the other way. In terms of having the patent box, some of the regimes...we talk about the BEPS project, and some of

Finance committee  It's not one that we focused on in particular.

Finance committee  I wouldn't be able to identify any particular success stories offhand. Certainly it is an initiative, it's a goal. Given the complexity of carrying on business today, there are two issues: one is getting the tax policy right and the other is tax administration. Sometimes, unfortu

Finance committee  I agree with that, Kevin. In terms of the evidence, there aren't a lot of academic studies out there. A number of these regimes are relatively new, but as Kevin says, they're out there. They're certainly providing competition for Canada. Anecdotally, there's evidence out there

Finance committee  We think it should be explored. A number of countries in Europe and elsewhere have that type of regime. As part of the BEPS project that was mentioned earlier, the patent boxes are in the process of being looked at. There are different types of regimes in different countries and

Finance committee  I'm not aware of exploration.

Finance committee  Thank you. Good afternoon. It's an honour and privilege to be here today to address this committee and to provide for your consideration on behalf of Deloitte some input regarding budget 2015. Budget 2015 will provide the government the opportunity to continue its commitment to