Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC
November 12, 2014
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Good evening. Buenas noches.
Thank you for your kind introduction and warm welcome.
I am delighted to join you tonight for the 8th annual "10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians" awards ceremony. It is my honour and privilege to recognize this year's recipients and to help celebrate their accomplishments.
Our Government has made it a priority to forge partnerships and pursue trade negotiations throughout the Americas.
In August, I had the pleasure of travelling to Bogota, Colombia, to discuss ongoing international cooperation on tax administration and trade issues with my counterparts in the Colombian government.
Earlier in the year, in Santiago, Chile, I met with Chilean officials to talk about current and future economic links between our two countries. I also attended the inauguration ceremony of President Michelle Bachelet in Valparaiso on March 11.
Canada is fortunate to enjoy strong diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties with our friends and neighbours throughout the Americas.
Our Government is committed to furthering those ties. Through our Strategy for Engagement in the Americas, we are working with partners towards three goals:
- to increase mutual economic opportunity;
- to address insecurity and advance freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law;
- and to foster lasting relationships.
You play a critical role in furthering those objectives.
Hispanic Canadians are a growing presence in all aspects of Canadian society - not least in the business sphere.
As Minister of National Revenue, I'm here to tell you about some of the ways we support small business owners and entrepreneurs, by making it easier for you to fulfill your tax obligations.
Red tape reduction Small and medium-sized enterprises (or SMEs) are the backbone of Canada's economy. You create jobs and growth in communities across the country.
In total, SMEs employ approximately 10 million Canadians, almost 90% percent of our workforce.
Our Government is determined to reduce red tape, so that business owners can focus on what you do best: growing your business, creating jobs, and stimulating economic growth in communities right across the country.
In January 2011, Prime Minister Harper established the Red Tape Reduction Commission to identify irritants to businesses that result from federal government rules and regulations.
After extensive consultations, the Commission issued a series of recommendations to many Government departments and agencies in January 2012.
The results were clear: the Canada Revenue Agency needed to improve service so that Canadian businesses could more quickly and easily fulfill their tax obligations - saving time and money in the process.
Since then, the CRA has taken action to address the feedback received from businesses during both the initial consultations from the Commission in 2011, and the targeted CRA-led consultations in 2012.
You told us that our online services needed to be improved.
They had to be more accessible and clear.
We took action with online service enhancements that ensure faster, cheaper, and more accurate filing than ever before. For example, businesses can now use My Business Account to manage their banking information online and sign up for pre authorized debit services. This electronic self service feature provides 24/7 control over registering, paying, filing, making changes, and looking at balances.
All told, businesses can now complete 50 different kinds of transactions online with CRA. And our online mail service is faster and easier than managing paper correspondence.
You told us we needed to improve our correspondence: our communications needs to be simplified and clarified.
We took action. We have conducted an extensive evaluation of the personalized letters sent directly to taxpayers and tax preparers.
The evaluation results will improve the quality of our correspondence. A plain language approach will ensure clear, concise, and consistent communications - an important part of the CRA's ongoing commitment to reduce red tape and support taxpayers in complying.
You told us that you needed simplified reporting obligations, referencing that most thresholds were not current.
We took action, revising the remittance thresholds for employer source deductions.
This will eliminate more than 800,000 payroll remittances for over 50,000 small and medium-sized employers.
And to help you remember what's due and when, we launched our first-ever mobile app.
Our Business Tax Reminders app lets you create custom reminders and alerts for key CRA due dates related to instalment payments, returns, and remittances.
Liaison Office Initiative
You told us that you needed better access to clear and accurate tax information.
We took action: Last January, I announced the Liaison Officer Initiative pilot project.
Through in person visits and record checks, CRA officers will provide entrepreneurs with support and information at key points in your business cycle.
This initiative will provide better support to businesses before a tax return is filed - preventing errors that can be costly to correct after the fact.
The Liaison Officer Initiative is still a pilot program, but the survey responses from 330 participants are overwhelmingly positive. Over 90% said the visit from a Liaison Officer helped them understand and clarify their tax matters and over 93% feel the Liaison Officer Initiative approach would be useful to other businesses.
Most importantly, you told us that you want to contribute to the evolution of our policies, programs, and administration as we improve the CRA's services for businesses.
Again, we took action!
Last month I launched the CRA's 2014 Red Tape Reduction consultations.
Facilitated consultations and CRA-led roundtables are being held with stakeholders in 23 centres across Canada this fall.
We are also holding online consultations—open to the small and medium business community. Find out how to participate on the CRA website: cra.gc.ca.
We have committed to consult with businesses every two years to ensure that our red tape reduction action plans continue to focus on business priorities.
Our Government is one of action. It's why we lowered the corporate tax rate. Why we cut the GST. Why we introduced the tax-free savings account ...
Small business job credit
… And it's why we plan to introduce a new tax credit that will save small businesses in Canada more than half a billion dollars over two years.
The small business job credit will help small businesses by lowering their Employment Insurance [EI] premiums in 2015 and 2016.
Any business that pays employer EI premiums of $15,000 or less in those years will be eligible for the credit.
What this means is that almost 90% of all EI premium-paying businesses in Canada will receive the credit, reducing their EI payroll taxes by nearly 15%.
Keeping our commitment to red tape reduction in mind, there will be no increased paperwork associated with the new tax credit.
Business owners do not have to apply for it - the CRA will automatically establish eligibility for 2015 and 2016 separately, based on the employer EI premiums paid for each of those years.
The CRA will calculate the credit and apply it to any outstanding balance on the business' payroll account, and then refund any amount remaining to the small business.
Our Government is committed to reducing the red tape that you have to deal with every day, while continuing to deliver for small business, for families, and for our economy.
On that note, it gives me great pleasure to conclude my remarks by congratulating this year's "10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians."
On behalf of the Government of Canada, I commend you on your achievements and wish you every success in your future endeavours.
Gracias.
