Québec solidaire on Sunday called on the government of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) to introduce a single tax return in order to lighten the administrative burden for taxpayers and ensure the province’s fiscal autonomy.
Sol Zanetti, MP for Jean-Lesage and responsible for Quebec solidaire in matters of sovereignty, denounced a certain “lack of political will” on the part of the government of François Legault in relation to this issue.
“It is something that could be done by law. The creation of the single tax report in Quebec by Duplessis was done unilaterally without needing Canada’s consent, and I think the CAQ could do it too,” he said. interview.
Quebec is the only Canadian province to file two tax returns since Prime Minister Maurice Duplessis introduced provincial income tax in February 1954.
“The CAQ had also promised to do so, in 2015, before being elected. It was one of the things they showed as a strong promise of their commitment to more nationalist governance, but in the end, they never went all the way,” recalled Mr. Zanetti.
$425 million in annual savings
The cost of these administrative duplications would amount to more than $425 million each year, according to calculations by the Institute for Research on Peoples’ Self-Determination and National Independence (IRAI).
“We would first have a bureaucratic economy, because there is a duplication in terms of ministerial structure and employees. The employees who today take care of the Canadian tax report, we would keep a certain part of it. The others, we would reassign them to other tasks in the government apparatus, because we are in shortage of manpower and we need their expertise, “said Sol Zanetti.
This change would also save businesses and, to a lesser extent, individuals.
“In Quebec, these 425 million per year, I think we can’t do without it. When we look at all the needs in the education system and in the health system, all the needs to accelerate the ecological transition (…), we have a duty of efficiency”, he added.
This new management would also ensure the fiscal autonomy of Quebec, which is currently “on its knees” before Ottawa and receives “shots” from the Liberal government.
“If Quebec collects its own taxes, it’s the one who has the money to send the necessary funds to Ottawa against the services of the Canadian government,” underlined the MP for Jean-Lesage. It thus reverses the balance of power by bringing it back to Quebec.
In a press release released Sunday, Québec solidaire claimed the province’s ability to act independently in the fight against tax evasion, which Ottawa “has abandoned by signing treaties with tax havens”.
A single tax return would also save time for taxpayers, who would not have to contact two separate interlocutors in the event of a tax-related question.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.