Thank you, Mr. Koe. Mr. Minister.
Debates of April 2nd, 1993
Topics
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
John Pollard Hay River
The estimated revenues in that particular year will be just short of $12 million, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
Fred Koe Inuvik
The biggest impact of this payroll tax on the plus side on the balance sheet, is this year, the first year that it is going to be imposed. That makes the current Minister look very good in achieving his balanced budget. However, the impact is not so good in future years, in 1994-95, when the net on the books is only going to be $2.2 million. This fiscal year, 1993-94, the net is going to be $7.9 million or thereabouts. I am wondering, in future years how do they propose to make up that difference of $7 or $8 million on the revenue side of the ledger sheets.
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
John Pollard Hay River
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is not my intention to try and look good. In this particular year we have some one time expenditures. As Members will recall we put in a $5 million one time expenditure for decentralization this particular year. There is also the training program which will be administered by the Department of Education, which is another $6 million in one time funding, Mr. Chairman. I am looking down the road and seeing those one time shots, knowing that they are not going to be there next year, and hopefully the formula may be producing a little better for us in the years to come we will be able to make those one time expenditures this year and still have a balanced budget next year, even though the net on the payroll tax is $2 million or a little less. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
Fred Koe Inuvik
Businesses are going to be the ones collecting and hold the tax collected. Depending on the size of the payroll, they will be expected to submit this money to this government. The concern of businesses, especially small businesses, is the administration of the payroll tax. Does the Minister have any estimate of the cost burden, or paper burden, that will be imposed on the businesses of the north?
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, I do not have any cost estimate. Having once been in business for a considerable period of time, and having waded through payroll either at the end of every two week pay period or at the end of each month, and hating every minute of it, I do not think it would have been that onerous on me to make one more deduction. Mr. Chairman, you may say, and it has been said to me outside of this House, that the employees are going to pay and the employers are not going to pay but I see this as the employees are certainly paying by way of dollars. They do have the opportunity to file for a tax credit at the end of the year, which will reimburse them. The employers may not be paying a tax but it will undoubtedly cost them a little bit more to make those calculations so they are contributing to the Government of the Northwest Territories as well. I do not have any firm numbers. However, I do know that it will be a little bit of extra work for them, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1465
Fred Koe Inuvik
A good part of the proposed bill deals with administration and non-administration because there are many clauses which impose monetary penalties for non-compliance. Every time you have compliance clauses that means there has to be someone monitoring or enforcing. Would the $222,000 which you mentioned, is that all of that going to go toward enforcers and auditors and people ensuring that bills are paid
and monies are collected, and revenues are submitted to this government.
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, there will be one auditor and two analysts. The auditor will mostly be doing desk audits as opposed to moving around the country and doing on-site audits. There will be three positions administering this tax. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
Fred Koe Inuvik
I hope they are not going to be paid $222,000. I assume some of that amount will be used for setting them up in the administration, and there is another one time cost for forms, that is one time every year because the dates will change each year on income tax forms. The act says that the Minister shall administer and enforce this act, control and supervise all persons employed to carry out or enforce this act. You would have two people. However, the act also refers to deputy minister and other officers for appointing other officers for administering and enforcing this act. Is the Minister saying that you would only have the three people who he mentioned, the two analysts and auditor, appointed as officers or are there other people in the system that will be appointed as tax collectors or tax enforcers.
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, I should explain that in as much as I will be asking for $222,000 and 3 PYs to administer this payroll tax, these people will fold into the systems which are already in place, and the regime which is already there, at times there may be more people, at busy times working on the payroll tax, and at time there will just be the regular number. At times there will be a need to ask other people to carry out duties related to this particular act. Mr. Chairman, when you mentioned specifically the deputy minister, the deputy minister spreads his time around the department as it is required, so he may be required to do things under this act as well as other people in the Department of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
April 2nd, 1993
Page 1466
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
Fred Koe Inuvik
Can the Minister estimate what the costs of the total regime, as he puts it, is going to be? You are going to incorporate people who already working in the system, which I assume is the Department of Finance, and I assume the Audit Bureau because they have the auditors, how much is it going to cost internally? Is this cost then some time in the future going to be applied as a direct cost against the amounts of revenues that are going to be generated?
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, my apologies if I mislead the House. The Audit Bureau will not be involved in the administration of this tax. It will be the solely administered from within the Department of Finance. There are already people there and they are already doing taxation types of work. What we are saying in order for that particular group to be able to administer this particular tax it will take another three PYs and $222,000 and as I said, a start up cost of $100,000 this year. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466
Fred Koe Inuvik
Is it conceivable that the proposed tax rebate, I know we are not on that bill but it ties in with this bill, can that rebate to northern employees, bearing in mind this bill is going to tax people who are not necessarily ordinarily resident in the north. Can we be challenged under the Charter of Rights on this issue?
Bill 27: Payroll Tax Act, 1993
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1466