We encourage all of our clients to write to the Minister of Finance (fin.consultation.fin@canada.ca) to provide feedback on the recent proposals to change the income tax rules for business owners. Many good articles have been published, castigating the government for gutting small business owners’ retirement savings, removing the incentives for business owners to take the risks that lead to economic growth, and ignoring the fundamental differences between business owners and employees in their analysis of the “unfair advantages” currently available to business owners. However, articles in the press and on the websites of accounting firms are unlikely to sway this government. Emails from thousands of business owners might.
The following articles provide a very good summary of the arguments against these proposals, and may help you in formulating your own response:
Our own response is also available on our blog: Recent proposals to amend the Income Tax Act
We are in the process of drafting a sample letter for clients to use.