Liberals fail to take concrete action on tax fairness

OTTAWA – New Democrats are criticizing the Liberal plan to hold consultations on potential tax measures instead of acting right away to crack down on wealthy tax cheats.

“There is nothing concrete and no guarantees of specific measures in this Liberal announcement,” said Pierre Luc-Dusseault, NDP Critic for National Revenue. “Additionally they are ignoring the larger issue of tax evasion, and they are failing to act on a key campaign promise to close the stock option loophole.”

It is estimated up to $8 billion is lost to tax evasion and avoidance every year. In the best case scenario, the Liberals' so-called ‘income sprinkling’ measure could only recover 3% of that total when and if the measure is fully implemented.

“The Liberals love to consult but this issue has been well studied and we could act right away,” said Murray Rankin, the NDP’s House Leader who tabled a bill on tax avoidance last month. “If Minister Morneau is admitting to witnessing this sort of avoidance himself, why not bring forward changes today?”

The NDP has proposed a host of measures including tackling international shell companies and other tax havens, reforming tax treaties, ending the sweet-heart deals for companies that facilitate tax evasion and registering companies to determine effective ownership.