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Results: 31 - 45 of 175
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Good afternoon, Mr. Ste-Marie. I always appreciate your questions and comments.
Initially, I thought you were going to ask about the taxes we will be collecting from tech giants thanks to this budget.
As far as financial services are concerned, as you know and as you pointed out, we talked about engaging in a discussion, a consultation. That's what we are proposing.
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
BQ (QC)
Once the consultation process for division 8—which enacts the Retail Payment Activities Act—comes to an end, you have no plans to give Amazon, Walmart and other tech giants the same ability that financial institutions have to provide payment tools.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
No.
We realize three things.
First, we understand that Canada's situation is unique. The reality is that the Quebec Civil Code exists, as you said, and any actions we take must be acceptable to all the provinces and territories. That makes Canada's situation unique.
Second, we understand that this is the 21st century. Technology and the global economy are changing rapidly, so we need to pay close attention to those changes. Canada and Quebec want to—and must—be part of the modern economy.
Third, we must always protect Canadian businesses and citizens. That means ensuring the playing field is always level for Canadians and foreign companies.
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you.
My first question is for Mr. Marsland.
As I understand it, the government intends to charge tech giants a 3% tax or royalty on their operations. The contribution would be equivalent to the taxes other companies have to pay. However, an international company that provides an online streaming service where users can watch movies or television series would not be subject to the 3% royalty or tax. Is that correct?
Andrew Marsland
View Andrew Marsland Profile
Andrew Marsland
2021-05-11 17:53
As I explained in my earlier response, the proposed tax will apply on certain revenues associated with value creation in Canada. That value creation typically comes from the monetization of user data in Canada, in such a respect the proposed tax is really quite similar to those in place in other G7 countries, for example, in France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In a similar fashion, the proposal is to get at that value creation in Canada. Companies that fall within the scope of that would be required to pay it on a certain portion of their revenues that is associated with that value creation, which is typically the monetization of user data.
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you for your answer.
I need some clarification. Let's say a person buys something online from a tech giant and pays $20 Canadian for a product made in China. The company making a profit on the transaction will not have to pay a royalty since there was no value creation in Canada, the product having been made in China.
Is that what you said? Do I have that right?
Andrew Marsland
View Andrew Marsland Profile
Andrew Marsland
2021-05-11 17:55
In a sense, Mr. Chair, that is what I'm saying. If you think about that analogy, a Canadian exporter who exported, for example, an agricultural product to China would not be subject to tax in respect of that economic activity in Canada unless they had a physical presence in the destination country and had a branch there and added value there. In a sense it's like that. As I mentioned earlier, the bill does include measures to ensure the appropriate taxation of the consumption through the GST or HST in Canada.
View Peter Julian Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I understand now why the minister was stepping so gingerly around this, and I understand why you, Mr. Marsland, are stepping so gingerly around this.
Netflix is out of scope, so my question to you is what percentage of the overall web giants are excluded—“out of scope” would be the words you used—from the actual application of the digital services tax?
While I have the microphone, my second question, which the minister also avoided answering, is, at this point, how much money has been spent on Trans Mountain? We were told last year it's the Canada account of the EDC that is used to basically launder the money and take it. The PBO tells us it's $14 billion for construction and another $4.5 billion for purchase. We're at roughly $18.5 billion for Trans Mountain. What are the finance department figures on how much has been actively spent so far?
Those are my two questions—the percentage of digital services that are excluded or web giants that are excluded because they are out of scope, and then the cost of Trans Mountain.
Andrew Marsland
View Andrew Marsland Profile
Andrew Marsland
2021-05-11 17:57
Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. I always step gingerly at this committee.
I can't really answer the question, because I'm not sure how to apply a percentage to what. What I can say is that the scope of this proposed tax is very similar to the scope of equivalent taxes in other G7 countries and elsewhere in that they typically apply on the types of revenues that I described earlier.
I'll turn it over to Ms. Dancey for the same questions.
View Peter Julian Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Giroux, you spoke earlier about measures that could be taken against the web giants. You mentioned a tax that could generate $2 billion to $3 billion. However, these measures don't take into account the excessive profits that these giants may have made during the pandemic.
What tools do you need to properly calculate excessive profits of a sector that doesn't typically provide accurate sales and revenue figures?
Yves Giroux
View Yves Giroux Profile
Yves Giroux
2021-04-27 17:59
To make such a calculation, we obviously need sales and profit data from comparable firms. We also need historical data to see what reasonable profits look like, as long as “reasonable” is defined.
When a limited number of players largely dominate a sector, as is the case in the technology and social network industries, it's difficult to find comparable companies to turn to in order to determine what a reasonable profit is.
In the absence of such data, we can look at the rate of return on investment that investors typically expect, but it's difficult to use only this type of information since it doesn't take into account the risk associated with very specific sectors.
So we need historical data on sales, costs and profits. This is the best way to determine what a normal profit is and what constitutes upward deviations that can be defined as excessive profits.
View Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Profile
BQ (QC)
There are other ways to make retail businesses more competitive. We've noticed in the past few years that taxation is the main way to accomplish this. How can a retailer compete with a web giant? We've also noticed that tax collection isn't necessarily fair to our local retailers. The federal government is unable to collect GST from web giants located outside the country. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
The announcements made yesterday as part of the budget had already been discussed recently. As of July 1, all digital platforms will be required to collect GST. In your opinion, is this measure timely for well-established businesses in our municipalities? Do you think that the impact is already too severe and that it's too little too late to reverse the trend?
Jean-Guy Côté
View Jean-Guy Côté Profile
Jean-Guy Côté
2021-04-20 16:59
I'll tell you right off the bat that it's better late than never.
Basically, you must understand that the QST is currently being collected by most online platforms in Quebec. Some aspects are already in place. The Quebec experience shows that, when asked, most major online sales platforms readily comply with government requests to register and collect taxes.
Since 2015, we've been talking about this issue and we've been wanting to see this money come back home. There will always be work to do to ensure fairness between retailers and online businesses located outside the country. One option would be to decide that the buyer's place of residence will now be the primary factor in determining whether to collect the tax, instead of relying solely on the business to collect the tax.
Again, I want to point out that tax collection in Quebec is going well. The fact that this measure will be extended to the rest of Canada is good news. In Canada, 86% of online sales are made to businesses outside the country. In 55% of cases, these businesses are located in the United States. In 31% of cases, the businesses are located in other parts of the world. A huge number of non-Canadian or non-Quebec online businesses aren't subject to Canadian borders. It's good news that elements of fairness are being introduced.
View Maxime Blanchette-Joncas Profile
BQ (QC)
In your opinion, Mr. Côté, what would have been the impact if the GST collection had started before the pandemic, following the example of Quebec, which started collecting the GST in 2015?
Jean-Guy Côté
View Jean-Guy Côté Profile
Jean-Guy Côté
2021-04-20 17:01
I can't say what the impact would have been.
However, it's important to acknowledge that the major trends in online shopping and retail were already under way. Did they pick up speed during the pandemic? Would some consumers have behaved differently? Would they have shopped at local businesses instead of through the major platforms? Perhaps.
However, it's important to note that the pandemic has made buying local more popular. People connected with their local businesses. They wanted to know about local businesses, so they searched online to find them. Also, the fact that people were working from home had a positive impact on businesses on nearby streets or on the main street in their neighbourhood. This helped the retailers and the small, local businesses. I like to say that we'll go back to the days when the retailers knew our first name. In our opinion, this is a great trend and great news. It's probably one of the silver linings of the pandemic.
Results: 31 - 45 of 175 | Page: 3 of 12

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