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Tax Minute – Excerpts From a Letter to the Minister of Finance
One of the most common questions put to tax professionals is: What’s coming next? Usually, this question is answered by a quip about crystal balls or some general theorizing about the current Government’s goals and the tools it may invoke to achieve them. However, on December 16, 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau helpfully laid out his (and presumably then the current Government’s) expectations of Minister Freeland and the Department of Finance. The full text of the letter can be found here.
The other tax geeks in the room will join me in jumping immediately to the tax policies outlined in the letter:
- Raise the corporate income tax payable by banks and insurance companies that earn more than $1 billion and require them to pay a Canada Recovery Dividend;
- Establishing a minimum 15 per cent tax for top-bracket earners;
- A tax on luxury cars, boats and planes;
- Investing in the Canada Revenue Agency to pursue aggressive tax planning and avoidance;
- Modernizing the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) regime to focus on economic substance, and
- Allow the immediate expensing of $1.5 million in annual capital expenditures on certain asset classes.
Proposed legislation released late on Friday, February 4, 2022 contained several changes that relate directly to these stated objectives, including, among other measures:
- Enhancements to the Mandatory Disclosure Rules to capture more transactions and if unreported, an extension of the normal reassessment period, and the automatic application of GAAR;
- Enhanced beneficial ownership reporting for Trusts for year ends after December 30, 2022;
- Interest deductibility restrictions aimed primarily at cross-border corporate structures, capping interest deductions at 30% of tax EBITDA; and,
- The immediate expensing of capital property up to $1.5 million annually.
Apart from pure tax measures, much of the letter focused on means by which the Department of Finance could use a combination of tax credits and spending policies to further the social policies and initiatives of the government, such as:
- Expanding diversity by incorporating into the department’s work “…the diverse views of Canadians”, including amendments to the Canada Business Corporations Act diversity requirements.
- Combatting climate change through expanded tax credits and deductions for “green” energy, manufacturing, and appliance repair;
- Supporting a “Fairness in Real Estate Action Plan”, including required reporting of pre- and post-renovation rent to deter “renovictions”, an anti-flipping tax, a vacant/underused housing tax, a ban on blind bidding, and a ban on foreign investment capital in non-recreational residential property for the next two years; and,
- Several proposals regarding federally regulated financial institutions, including a mandatory six-month mortgage payment deferrals for stressful life events, lowering of the criminal threshold for predatory interest rates, a review of bank charges and required adjustments if they are deemed excessive.
While not quite a crystal ball, this letter provides an interesting glimpse into the minds of our current Government and how they intend to use fiscal policy to advance both their economic and social agenda.
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