Ottawa, July 19, 2005... Minister of National Revenue John McCallum announced yesterday, the creation of the Disability Advisory Committee to deal with the administrative aspects of the Disability Tax Credit and with implementing recommendations made by the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities.
"I am pleased to announce that the CRA has created the Disability Advisory Committee. This committee will provide a forum to identify the needs and expectations of the disability community," stated Minister McCallum. "The Disability Advisory Committee is an important consultative forum through which members can provide helpful advice, comments, and suggestions on tax measures for persons with disabilities. It is crucial that persons with disabilities be treated equally and fairly, and I am confident that the members of the committee will help us achieve this."
The Disability Advisory Committee will report directly to the Minister of National Revenue on all administrative aspects of the tax system related to persons with disabilities. Minister McCallum and the committee held their inaugural meeting in Ottawa yesterday.
The federal government established the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons with Disabilities in February 2003 to recommend ways of improving the fairness of treatment under the income tax system for persons with disabilities, taking into account available fiscal resources. It specifically recommended that the CRA form a consultative committee composed of consumer and professional representatives.
The 12 committee members, appointed by Minister McCallum, come from different areas of the country and include professionals, such as medical practitioners and tax lawyers, advocates for the disability community, and persons with disabilities.
They are, in alphabetical order: George Archibald, Harry Beatty, Dr. Pierre Beauséjour, Dr. Gary Birch, Lembi Buchanan, Dr. Karen Cohen, Hubert Drouin, Deanna Groetzinger, Dr. Ashok Muzumdar, Eileen Reppenhagen, Dr. Raffath Sayeed, and Peter Weissman.
For more information on the Disability Advisory Committee and its members, visit our Web site at: www.cra.gc.ca/disability.
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