Tony Clement is feeling cynical over announced changes coming to a proposed tax reform.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced the reform, which was expected to hit small businesses the hardest, will be changed to protect the middle-class Canadians. This will include cutting the current small business tax rate from 10.5 per cent to nine per cent by 2019.
Parry Sound Muskoka MP Clement says he believes this a smoke and mirrors tactic to avoid the bigger issues with this reform.
Morneau has said he will also be changing the proposal to crack down on income sprinkling, where a small business owner passes on some of their income to family members to save on taxes. The reform would put these family members in a higher tax bracket unless they were making a significant labour or capital contribution to the business.
Clement says Morneau’s changes aren’t improving this plan.
Clement says a call from the Conservative Party of Canada to extend the public consultation on this proposal was shot down in the House of Commons. He says despite this setback he still plans to fight what he calls a tax grab on small businesses to protect his constituents.