In a survey commissioned by the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA-Canada), a plurality of Canadians feel the tax system is moving in the wrong direction.
Canadians also believe the tax system is more complex than it was 10 years ago and more than 62% of those surveyed said that having a simple tax system is important.
CGA-Canada says the findings support the organizaiton’s agenda to modernize Canada’s tax system by making it simpler, more transparent and more efficient.
There is a growing call for tax reform in Canada. In a recent report, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce identifies Canada’s complex tax system as one of the top 10 barriers to competitiveness and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance — in its 2011 report — called for the establishment of an expert panel to review, modernize and simplify the tax system.
CGA-Canada believes there is an opportunity to advance that agenda and is announcing that it will be holding a by-invitation only summit on tax simplification in Ottawa on December 4.
The summit will bring together approximately 60 stakeholders, public officials and thought leaders on tax policy to strategize on the issue of tax simplification, inform the debate, establish priorities and identify next steps.
“It is clear from our survey that Canadians support simplifying our country’s tax system,” says Anthony Ariganello, president & CEO of CGA-Canada, “Done properly, tax simplification could yield substantial benefits for the public and private sectors as well as individual taxpayers.”
The survey also shows that more than half of Canadians feel that tailored tax credits have no effect on people’s behaviour and that the credits essentially reward them for things they would do regardless. Instead, 68% of Canadians favour eliminating some tailored tax credits in order to have their overall personal income tax lowered. This shows that Canadians would support government actions on effective tax reform rather than on targeted tax relief measures.