Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy (41st Parliament, 1st Session)

Past Session:

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce

has the honour to present its

TWELFTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill C-48, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act and related legislation, has, in obedience to the order of reference of June 6, 2013, examined the said Bill and now reports the same without amendment.

Your committee has also made certain observations, which are appended to this report.

Respectfully submitted,

IRVING R. GERSTEIN

Chair

OBSERVATIONS to the Twelfth Report
of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking and Commerce
(Bill C-48)

The volume of information and technical content has posed a major problem for the study of this important bill.

Expert witnesses in the field of taxation have emphasized the importance of passing several sections of this bill, dating back to 2001.

They unanimously recommend that the government makes these adjustments to our income tax law annually or at the very least every two years. For experts, these recommendations would better serve taxpayers and Canadian companies as they would provide clarification and reduce costs for implementation.

Therefore, the Committee suggests that the responsible Minister for these technical amendments legislate more quickly and frequently.

Secondly, experts in the Canadian tax regime such as lawyers, accountants, amongst others, have suggested to our committee that the entire income tax law should be simplified. According to these experts, much of the law can be simplified in a relatively short time, always with the objective of making it more efficient and accessible to taxpayers. Some have suggested a simple task force, others have recommended a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

The Committee suggests that the Minister consider the possibility of undertaking this effort to simplify in the most efficient manner and according to the wishes of the majority stakeholders.