A House of Commons committee will hold hearings into the federal government’s decision to bring in major tax changes affecting income trusts.

The hearings could begin as early as the week of January 29.

The Commons finance committee said yesterday it would sponsor a series of public hearings. They will provide a platform for financial experts and interest groups to comment on a decision by federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to phase out the tax-free status of the trusts by 2011.

The opposition parties want to extend the tax-free status of the existing trusts to 10 years from four, and they want to find out exactly how much tax money the federal government is losing through income tax trusts.