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Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:03
As was stated, my colleague Shawn Porter and I appeared before the House finance committee and the Senate committee on agriculture to discuss Bill C-208 and provide comments on the technical aspects of the bill. During that time, we provided technical commentary and analysis in respect of the bill, but our involvement was limited to that. We weren't suggesting amendments, but certainly we did raise some of the concerns that are alluded to or mentioned in the July 19 press release.
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:04
As I understood it, the purpose of my appearance before the House finance committee was to provide information and analysis on the technical aspects of the bill so that members of the committee had the appropriate information to make decisions.
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:05
Just to be technical in the terminology, when Bill C-208 received royal assent, it became effective. It became part of law. It amended the Income Tax Act. On June 29, the date of royal assent, Bill C-208 amended the Income Tax Act. As of that date, the provisions it had amended were part of Canadian law. That's the date on which it came into law. That's just a fact and not something that could be changed.
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:06
I suppose there are two things to discuss there. The first relates to the decision-making process in terms of the press release. In that, the department follows the regular approval process that we use for all of our public communications projects, in alignment with the requirements of the federal communications policy.
In terms of the substantive portion of the question, as I said, on June 29 Bill C-208 produced its effect and amended the Income Tax Act. The government's announcement on June 30 was that the government proposes to introduce legislation providing that the amendments would apply only as of January 1, 2022. It's perhaps a technical point that the June 30 amendment would amend the Income Tax Act, which had been amended by Bill C-30 ahead of time, but the government was announcing its intention to table legislation to provide a January 1, 2022, application date.
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:08
—approval process for the press release, it followed the normal federal communications policy, which involved a number of groups or branches within the Department of Finance working on the press release, so—
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:09
Thank you.
I just want it to be clear that in terms of the press release, we're being clear on specifically what it did. In terms of who made the decision, the press release stated that the “government” proposes to introduce legislation. That is a reference to the elected Government of Canada and its intention to table a bill. That is a proposal of the Government of Canada and not—
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:11
As I said, it was an announcement of the government's proposal. As we start with the approval process, of course the Department of Finance officials provide advice to the minister, and then we implement the government's decisions. I was simply trying to highlight the fact that this was a government proposal to table a bill in Parliament that would affect the application date of the amendments included in Bill C-208.
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:13
It is a somewhat arcane thing that doesn't come up much, but it is critically important in the preparation of tax amendments.
As I said initially, for example, the amendments in Bill C-208 came into force on the date they received royal assent; that is to say that the bill amended the Income Tax Act on that date.
That doesn't necessarily mean their application to any particular transaction is going to be clear. In particular, when we're putting together income tax amendments, we typically set out specific application dates. For example, one reading of a coming-into-force date in the middle of a taxation year is that it applies to transactions that occur on or after the date of royal assent. Another reading of the measure is that because a taxpayer's liability for tax crystalizes at the end of the taxation year when it is computed, it's the law at the end of the taxation year that is relevant for the purposes of computing tax.
A coming-into-force date that simply appears in the act on, let's say, June 29, is ambiguous in that it's not clear if it applies to transactions that occur on or after that particular date or for the 2021 taxation year. That's the reason we typically, in drafting income tax amendments, set out specifically when an amendment applies. It could apply, for example, in respect to transactions that occur on or after a particular date. It could apply as of a particular taxation year. There are a number of different formulations. We do that to address that and provide clarity—
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:16
I apologize. I'll try to be more brief.
As I said, the coming into force of Bill C-208 was a factual matter. It amended the Income Tax Act on June 29. That's just when it produced its effect.
The proposed amendment would.... Of course, it would have to be included in a bill, as stated. The government would have to propose it to introduce legislation, and that bill would need to receive royal assent. If passed, it would have the effect of providing that the amendments that had been made as a result of Bill C-208 would apply as of January 1, 2022.
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:17
Yes. It's quite common that when income tax amendments are made, they apply as of a future date. A bill like Bill C-30, the recent budget bill, might have a number of amendments that, even though it also received royal assent on June 29, might not start to apply until a later taxation year or a later date in the future, in order to give the taxpayers and the tax administration time to respond.
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:18
The July 19 announcement provided that Bill C-208 amendments currently apply and that any new amendments put forward by the government, which as we discussed would need to be included in a bill and passed through Parliament, would not apply before November 1, 2021.
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:18
The relevant provisions of the Income Tax Act as amended by Bill C-208 would apply to a transaction undertaken today. That's based on yesterday's press release. The government announced that any new amendments would not apply before November 2021. For any transaction undertaken between now and the end of October, the government announced that whatever new conditions it might include in the bill, which, again, would need to be passed by Parliament, would not apply.
Trevor McGowan
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Trevor McGowan
2021-07-20 14:20
It's a complex issue with a number of competing factors. As I said in my earlier committee appearance, a lot of people have an intuitive sense of what it means to transfer a business to the next generation, but it is a difficult thing to legislate with precision so that all of the genuine intergenerational transfers are accommodated under the rules but more contrived or artificial transactions are not. It is a complex thing.
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