Canada's Tax System Should Be Scrapped And Redone, Says National Bank Ceo

Canada’s tax system has grown so complex that a review or even an overhaul won’t work, so it needs to be scrapped, says the head of the country’s sixth-largest bank.

Ottawa needs to hire a small team of experts to write a new tax code with the “goal of becoming the simplest, most efficient and most competitive tax jurisdiction of all developed countries,” Laurent Ferreira, chief executive of National Bank of Canada , said at the Toronto Global Forum on Wednesday.

“The complexity of our tax code is a burden and a real cost, especially for small businesses that often lack the resources to navigate all the rules. We need a tax code that creates the right conditions to attract capital and talent, generate jobs and build wealth for all Canadians.”

Canada was ranked 15th among 38 industrialized countries in an annual study of how competitive countries’ tax systems are by the Tax Foundation’s Center for Global Tax Policy. That was the same as last year, but it slipped two places to the 28th spot in the individual tax category and was ranked 25th in the property taxes category.

Ottawa has recently announced some changes to the tax system that business leaders applauded, such as the productivity mega deduction last month, which will allow businesses to immediately write off a broad range of eligible capital investments.

It also announced it would prioritize advance income tax rulings for investments of $1 billion or more to give investors greater certainty before they commit capital.

“I love the action of our government — and individual measures like these are necessary — however, they can only go so far,” Ferreira said.

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