The Canadian Commodity Tax Committee is responsible for TEI’s advocacy and educational efforts in Canadian federal and provincial excise, sales, and use tax matters.
The committee provides comments on legislative and administrative proposals and conducts annual liaison meetings with the Canada Revenue Agency and Canadian Department of Finance to discuss tax-enforcement and policy matters in the commodity tax field.
TEI Recommends Improvements to British Columbia's Carbon Tax
On September 14, 2012, TEI submitted a letter to the British Columbia Ministry of Finance urging the Province to use proceeds from the carbon tax to provide incentives for businesses that make investments in alternative fuel sources, methods for capturing emissions, or other "green" projects, and suggesting changes to make the tax more administrable.
TEI Supports Harmonization of Sales Tax in Prince Edward Island
On June 27, 2012, TEI submitted a letter to the government of Prince Edward Island and Finance Canada in response to the announcement that the province had entered into formal negotiations with the Canadian government to replace its provincial sales tax with a harmonized sales tax. TEI's letter summarizes the Institute's general support for the HST and makes recommendations to enable the Province and taxpayers to achieve the benefits of reducing the complexity and costs of compliance with the new tax system.
TEI Makes Recommendations to Improve Tax Competitiveness and Administration in British Columbia
On June 13, 2012, TEI submitted comments to the British Columbia Expert Panel on Business Taxation in response to an invitation for submissions to assist with developing recommendations "for a business tax system for British Columbia that balances the principles of competitiveness, fairness and simplicity." This most recent letter follows earlier communications between TEI and the government of British Columbia regarding the province's tax system.
TEI Holds 2011 Liaison Meetings with Canada Revenue Agency and the Canadian Department of Finance
On December 6-7, 2011,TEI President David Penney and David Daubaras, the Institute's Vice President for Canadian Affairs, led a delegation of members in the 2011 liaison meetings with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Department of Finance. The agendas for the separate meetings on income and excise (GST and Customs) tax matters were prepared under the aegis of TEI's Canadian Income and Commodity Tax Committees, whose chairs are Carmine A. Arcari and Kim N. Berjian, respectively.
Income Tax Matters
TEI Holds Liaison Meeting with British Columbia Ministry of Finance
On November 15, 2011, Tax Executives Institute submitted a letter to the British Columbia Ministry of Finance containing a number of improvements to make the Provincial Sales Tax ("PST") more efficient and administrable. As a follow up to that letter, three members of TEI's Canadian Commodity Tax Committee met with officials from the Ministry on December 12, 2011 to further discuss the Institute's proposals.
TEI Supports Harmonized Sales Tax in British Columbia
On April 29, 2011, TEI submitted a letter opposing a referendum to rescind British Columbia's Harmonized Sales Tax and restore the Provincial Sales Tax. TEI's letter summarizes the Institute's general support for the HST and the implications if it were to be repealed. The Institute's comments were prepared under the aegis of its Canadian Commodity Tax Committee, whose chair is Kim N. Berjian.
TEI Supports OECD VAT/GST Neutrality Guidelines
On March 30, 2011, TEI sent a letter to the OECD affirming direction of OECD's VAT/GST neutrality guidelines. TEI's comments were prepared by the Institute's European Indirect Tax Committee, whose chair is Jean-Daniel Rouvinez. Jeffery P. Rasmussen of the Institute's legal staff assisted with the comments.
TEI Urges Changes to Canada Regulation on Restricted Input Tax Credits
On March 7, 2011, TEI submitted a letter to Finance Canada and Canada Revenue Agency recommending amendments to the Harmonized Value-added Tax System regulations to make restricted input tax credit (RITC) reporting administrable. The letter follows up on TEI's December 2010 liaison meetings with Canada Revenue Agency and the Department of Finance, where TEI representatives raised the timing for reporting and applying the rules relating to RITCs. TEI maintains that reporting RITCs pursuant to the timeframes required in Harmonized Value-added Tax System Regulations, No.
TEI Holds 2010 Liaison Meetings with Canada Revenue Agency and the Canadian Department of Finance
On December 7-8, 2010, TEI held its annual liaison meetings with Canadian Department of Finance and Canada Revenue Agency.
Canada Revenue Agency
- TEI Liaison Agenda
- IncomeTax Meeting Minutes
- Excise Tax Meeting Minutes
- Written Responses
Department of Finance
TEI Supports the Harmonization of Canada's Provincial Sales Tax
On March 25, 2010, TEI filed a letter urging the Canada Department of Finance to permit sufficient time for companies to implement the new harmonized sales tax regime. TEI's letter follows amendments proposed by the Department of Finance on February 25, 2010. The amendment relates to the harmonized sales tax (HST), including place of supply, self-assessment and rebate, and the imported taxable supply rules relating to the provincial component of the HST in regulations under the Excise Tax Act.