16 | winter 2018 cmba-achc.ca CMB MAGAZINE
A
s the saying goes, there is
strength in numbers. CMBA
has teamed up with over
80 other associations and
organizations representing
hundreds of thousands of small businesses
and professionals across Canada to form the
Coalition for Small Business Tax Fairness,
in order to hold the Trudeau government
accountable for its tax reform proposals and
new tax legislation.
Some of the Coalition members possess
unique and unparalleled expertise in the field
of taxation, which has enabled this group to
provide valuable feedback to Finance Minister
Bill Morneau on his Department's recent tax
measures. e following Coalition letter was
sent to the Minister in November.
Dear Minister Morneau,
We are writing on behalf of the Coalition for
Small Business Tax Fairness. Together, our
organizations represent hundreds of thousands
of independent businesses, professionals and
taxpayers, across all sectors of the economy
and all regions of the country that employ
millions of Canadians. We are writing today to
raise concerns regarding recently announced
changes to income splitting rules for families and
upcoming changes to passive investment rules.
Income Splitting Rules: Red Tape
Nightmare for Business
As of January 1, 2018, small business owners are
subject to stricter rules that limit their ability
to split business income and capital gains with
family members. While we understand that
affected family members are not required to file
these taxes until 2019, business owners will be
making salary and dividend payments to family
members throughout the year, which may result
in the retroactive application of the new rules,
taxing recipients of such income at a much
higher tax rate. Your government provided
business owners with less than three weeks
to learn of, interpret and implement
A new coalition lobbies the federal government to reconsider its strict, stifling tax measures
Small Businesses
Mount Big Resistance
BY Samantha Gale
