The Liberal government has decided not to make any changes to the taxation of stock options, apparently backing off fully from the issue it raised during the 2015 federal election campaign.
“It’s not in our plan,” said Finance Minister Bill Morneau at a press conference when asked about possible changes to the taxation of stock options. Morneau suggested that the government had heard from many small firms expressing concerns about the government limiting their ability to compensate employees with stock options.
Small companies, such as technology startups, lack capital and, therefore, often use the stock options as a way to attract and retain employees.
Budget 2016 documents contained no mention of changes to stock options despite the fact that the issue of stock option compensation was part of the Liberals’ fiscal plan published last year.