CPA Canada and other organizations have been actively consulting with the Department of Finance and Canada Revenue Agency on various technical issues and red tape that currently exist within the Income Tax Act. A series of increasingly complex legislation came out of the Department of Finance over the last few years, prompting these organizations to request the government undertake a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act similar to the Report of the Royal Commission on Taxation 1 in 1966-67 (the “Carter Commission”).
In addition to organizations external to the government, various government committees – including the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance and the Senate Standing Committee on Finance – are recommending a comprehensive review. The big question: will the Liberal government decide a new Royal Commission is required to simplify the Income Tax Act?
This year’s federal budget is the final one before the 2019 election, and there aren’t many politicians campaigning door-to-door on a “comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act.” Most, if not all, individuals who work with the Income Tax Act on a daily basis arguably know it has become too complex to efficiently and effectively administer; however, this sentiment is not shared by the average voter, who does not need to understand the act’s intricacies.
A comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act would be a time-consuming exercise that seems to lack the “interest factor” among most voters, but would be extremely beneficial for the long-term prosperity of Canada.
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