Canada To Enact Budget Tax Measures

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

01 October 2010

The Canadian Minister of Finance, Jim Flaherty announced on September 28 the tabling in the House of Commons of a Notice of Ways and Means Motion to implement key tax relief measures from Budget 2010.

Flaherty said: “Reducing the tax burden on Canadian families and businesses through a more efficient and fairer tax system helps support Canada’s economic recovery. These measures will help our recovery and create jobs.”

The Notice of Ways and Means Motion includes tax measures to:

• Index the Working Income Tax Benefit;
• Provide for the sharing of the Canada Child Tax Benefit and the Universal Child Care Benefit in cases of shared custody;
• Allow Registered Retirement Savings Plan proceeds to be transferred to a Registered Disability Savings Plan on a tax-deferred basis;
• Better target the tax incentives in place for employee stock options;
• Facilitate the implementation of Employee Life and Health Trusts;
• Implement disbursement quota reform for registered charities;
• Provide legislative authority for the Canada Revenue Agency to issue online notices when the taxpayer so requests;
• Reduce the paperwork burden for small excise taxpayers under the Paper Burden Reduction Initiative, announced by the Minister of National Revenue on March 31, 2009;
• Expand the availability of Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance for clean energy generation;
• Adjust the Capital Cost Allowance rate for television set-top boxes to better reflect the useful life of these assets;
• Protect agents of the Crown collecting the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) and the Air Travellers Security Charge from civil liability claims;
• Address aggressive tax planning techniques related to Tax-Free Savings Accounts; and
• Amend labour-sponsored venture capital corporation rules relating to Tax-Free Savings Accounts.

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