Minister of National Revenue John McCallum announced yesterday, the creation of the Disability Advisory Committee to deal with the administrative aspects of the Disability Tax Credit and with implementing recommendations made by the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities.

“I am pleased to announce that the CRA has created the Disability Advisory Committee. This committee will provide a forum to identify the needs and expectations of the disability community,” said McCallum. “The Disability Advisory Committee is an important consultative forum through which members can provide helpful advice, comments, and suggestions on tax measures for persons with disabilities.”

The committee will report directly to the Minister of National Revenue on all administrative aspects of the tax system related to persons with disabilities. McCallum and the committee held their inaugural meeting in Ottawa yesterday.

The federal government established the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities in February 2003 to recommend ways of improving the fairness of treatment under the income tax system for persons with disabilities, taking into account available fiscal resources. It specifically recommended that the CRA form a consultative committee composed of consumer and professional representatives.

The 12 committee members, appointed by McCallum, come from different areas of the country and include professionals, such as medical practitioners and tax lawyers, advocates for the disability community, and persons with disabilities.

They committee members are: George Archibald, Harry Beatty, Dr. Pierre Beauséjour, Dr. Gary Birch, Lembi Buchanan, Dr. Karen Cohen, Hubert Drouin, Deanna Groetzinger, Dr. Ashok Muzumdar, Eileen Reppenhagen, Dr. Raffath Sayeed, and Peter Weissman.