Prime Minister Justin Trudeau maintains that his government will be “reasonable” in the matter of taxing digital giants, promising to “continue to work with the Americans” who view negatively this measure long promised by Canada and international institutions .
“We know that a tax on Web giants for the work they do within a jurisdiction is an important and good thing and we are going to be reasonable,” Mr. Trudeau said on Wednesday while he was going to a meeting of his caucus on Parliament Hill.
The federal government avoided including in the implementation document of its economic statement the deadline of January 2024 to start imposing the digital giants.
A government source familiar with this matter said Tuesday that we should not see “a step backwards” in the absence of a deadline written in black and white in this ways and means motion, assuring that the “desire to go moving forward quickly” remains.
This source, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak more freely, indicated that there is no mention of a date in order to add “additional flexibility” in Canada’s discussions with the UNITED STATES. We want to avoid certain repercussions that could be imposed by Joe Biden’s government.
Asked on Wednesday whether there is a standoff with the Americans or even a risk that there will be one, Mr. Trudeau replied that his government “will always be in good discussions with the United States.”
Negotiations are underway, on the international scene, with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as well as the G20 countries on the establishment of a multinational framework called, in the jargon, “pillar one” .
Start of next year?
Ottawa could, however, decide to move forward on its own, as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has already suggested on numerous occasions. The deadline of the beginning of next year has been put forward publicly for months by the woman who is also Deputy Prime Minister, through various speeches.
“The reality is that we took a break because the OECD and other countries worked to try to establish a regime that would apply across the world. We had a deadline of the end of 2023. Unfortunately the OECD and the Americans were unable to agree,” added Mr. Trudeau.
Thus, Ottawa “moves forward as [il] promised to do so,” summarized Mr. Trudeau.
The day before, Mme Freeland introduced the ways and means motion as “the next step on this path.”
This motion prepares the ground for a bill to implement the fall economic statement.
A possible digital services tax law has been promised by the Liberals for years. It is presented as a way of forcing digital companies established abroad that benefit from revenues in Canada to do their part by subjecting them to a 3% tax.
Liberal MP Sophie Chatel, who has already worked with the OECD, stressed in an interview on Tuesday that countries like France, the United Kingdom and Austria already tax the income of large digital companies in their jurisdiction. .
She said that “every year” that goes by without taxes in Canada equates to “revenue that is lost,” echoing similar comments from Minister Freeland.