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Forward Regulatory Plan: 2021-2023

This Forward Regulatory Plan provides information on regulatory proposals that the Canada Revenue Agency intends to propose or finalize in the next two years through:

  • pre-publication in the Canada Gazette, Part I; and/or
  • final publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II.

The Forward Regulatory Plan may also include regulatory initiatives that are planned to be brought forward over a longer time frame. Comments or enquiries can be made using the Canada Revenue Agency contact information included with each regulatory initiative.

Regulatory Initiatives

Regulatory initiatives planned or anticipated to be proposed or finalized between 2021 and 2023:

Regulations Made Under the Disability Tax Credit Promoters Restrictions Act

Regulations Made Under the Income Tax Act

Regulations Made Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

Disability Tax Credit Promoters Restrictions Regulations

Enabling Act: Disability Tax Credit Promoters Restrictions Act

Description: These new regulations will set the maximum fee that disability tax credit (DTC) promoters can charge for helping prepare a DTC claim.

The Act limits the fee that DTC promoters can charge to help prepare a DTC claim to the amount set out in the Regulations. It also states that any DTC promoter who charges a claimant more than the regulated amount must notify the Minister of National Revenue and can be charged a penalty.

Although the Disability Credit Promoters Restrictions Act gives the Governor in Council the authority to make regulations which exempt certain promoters from the notifying requirements, such regulations are not being considered at this time.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic, international): No regulatory cooperation efforts are required.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses: There may be business impacts. The Small Business Lens may apply.

While the proposed Regulations are expected to result in a loss of revenue for promoters, some of which may be small businesses, the proposed Regulations do not impose any compliance or administrative costs on businesses, including small businesses.

Consultations: The Canada Revenue Agency held public consultations in November and December 2014 to obtain input from stakeholders about the maximum fee and who should be exempt from the reporting requirements. The consultations included professional associations, tax preparers, medical practitioners, lawyers, persons with disabilities and their families, as well as associations representing persons with disabilities. For more information, go to Disability tax credit consultations.

The proposed Regulations were approved for consultation by the Governor in Council on May 16, 2019 and were published in Part I of the Canada Gazette on June 1, 2019 for a 30-day consultation period to allow interested persons and stakeholders to submit comments.

The Agency has analysed the submissions received and will provide further updates when appropriate.

Further information:

CRA contact:
Claire Arjang
Manager, Specialized Statutes and Regulatory Affairs Section
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
Telephone: 613-670-0532
E-mail: Regulations-Reglements@cra-arc.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: 2015-06-01

Agricultural Cooperatives - Reporting of tax deferred cooperative shares

Enabling Act: Income Tax Act

Description: The Income Tax Act currently allows members of agricultural cooperatives to defer the inclusion in income of patronage dividends they received in the form of shares until the disposal of the shares. This temporary tax deferral regime was extended in the 2015 federal budget until the end of 2020.

The proposed amendments to the Income Tax Regulations would require agricultural cooperatives to issue an information slip in respect of tax deferred cooperative shares at the time the shares are redeemed. The objective of this proposal is to ensure that both the recipient of the shares and the Canada Revenue Agency have the necessary information to determine the correct reporting of income in respect of the shares.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic and international): No regulatory cooperation efforts are required.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses: There may be business impacts. The Small Business Lens may apply.

Agricultural cooperative corporations that issue tax deferred cooperative shares will be required to prepare and file an information slip at the time of redemption which reports the value of patronage dividends their members received in the form of shares.

Consultations: Given the administrative nature of these regulatory amendments, no public consultation opportunities are planned at this time.

Further information:

Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income: Line 9605 – Patronage dividends

CRA contact:
Claire Arjang
Manager, Specialized Statutes and Regulatory Affairs Section
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
Telephone: 613-670-0532
Email: Regulations-Reglements@cra-arc.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: 2016-04-01

Canada Child Benefit - Gender - Neutral Eligibility

Enabling Act: Income Tax Act

Description: The Income Tax Act (ITA) defines a number of terms for the purposes of the Canada Child Benefit. In order to be the “eligible individual” of a “qualified dependent”, the individual must be a resident of Canada for tax purposes and must reside with the dependent and be the parent who primarily fulfills their responsibility for the care and upbringing of the qualified dependent or is  a shared-custody parent. The Income Tax Act presumes that the female parent is the “eligible individual” if she resides with the dependent.

However, the definition of “eligible individual” also provides that the female presumption referred to above does not apply in certain prescribed circumstances.

Section 6301 of the Income Tax Regulations outlines the circumstances where the presumption does not apply. The presumption will not apply where the female parent of the qualified dependent declares in writing that the male parent with whom she resides is the parent of the qualified dependent who fulfills the responsibility for the care and upbringing of each of the qualified dependents who reside with both parents.

It is proposed that this paragraph be amended to replace the reference to the “male” parent to a gender-neutral reference.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic and international): No regulatory cooperation efforts are required.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses: The proposed amendment will serve to render the provision gender neutral. It does not impose any additional administrative burden on businesses. The “One-for-One” Rule and the small business lens do not apply.

Consultations: No further consultations are planned given that the presumption is preserved but that the paragraph in question will be amended to render it gender neutral.

Further information:

CRA contact:
Claire Arjang
Manager, Specialized Statutes and Regulatory Affairs Section
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
Telephone: 613-670-0532
Email: Regulations-Reglements@cra-arc.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: 2019-04-01

Common Reporting Standard - Part XIX Information Return

Enabling Act: Income Tax Act

Description: In order to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, beginning in 2018, every Canadian financial institution is required to provide the Minister of National Revenue with information regarding their non-resident account holders by filing, with the Canada Revenue Agency (Agency), a Part XIX information return on or before May 2nd of each year in an electronic format.

The Act currently provides for general penalties for failing to file on time or in the required format. However, since these penalties are considered to be excessive in cases where the non-compliance is with respect to large numbers of information returns, reduced penalties are available where numerous information returns of a type prescribed in the Regulations are filed late or not in electronic format by the same filer.

Amendments to the Income Tax Regulations are required in order to add the Part XIX information return to the existing lists of prescribed returns to which the reduced penalties apply.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic and international): No regulatory cooperation efforts are required.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses: The proposed amendment only affects one specific sector (financial institutions) and does not impose any additional administrative burden on that sector. The ‘One-for-One’ Rule and the small business lens do not apply.

The proposed amendment is relieving in nature in that it will allow a reduced penalty to be applied where a financial institution files a Part XIX information return late or not in electronic format.

Consultations: No further consultations are planned given that the requirement to file the information return is found in the Income Tax Act. This proposed amendment only affects one specific sector (financial institutions) and does not impose any additional administrative burden on that sector.

Further information:

CRA contact:
Claire Arjang
Manager, Specialized Statutes and Regulatory Affairs Section
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
Telephone: 613-670-0532
Email: Regulations-Reglements@cra-arc.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: 2019-04-01

Canada Pension Plan and/or the Quebec Pension Plan - Exclusion of additional contributions from base pay calculations

Enabling Act: Income Tax Act

Description: The Canada Pension Plan Act was amended in 2016 in order to enhance the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) retirement and supplemental benefits. These enhancements became effective in 2019 and are being funded by additional contributions by employees, employers and self-employed individuals. As part of the CPP enhancement, the Income Tax Act was later amended to provide for a tax deduction for employee additional contributions (as well as the "employee" share of contributions by self-employed persons) to the enhanced portion of the CPP.

In 2018, the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) was also enhanced in a manner similar to the CPP. In 2018, the Income Tax Act was again amended to provide for a deduction for employee additional contributions, as well as the "employee" share of contributions by self-employed individuals, to the enhanced portion of the QPP.

As a result of the introduction of these new tax deductions, amendments to the Income Tax Regulations are required to ensure that the amount of the employee’s additional CPP and/or QPP contributions are taken into account when calculating the individual’s base income for purposes of deducting or withholding income taxes.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic and international): No regulatory cooperation efforts are required.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses: The proposed change to the Income Tax Regulations will serve to provide that the employee’s additional CPP and/or similar QPP contributions are to be taken into account for purposes of calculating the individual’s remuneration from which income tax deductions are determined. The proposed amendment does not impose any additional administrative burden on the employers. The “One-for-One” Rule and the small business lens do not apply.

Consultations: No further consultations are planned given that the amendment is consequential to amendments to the Income Tax Act and only serves to provide that the amount of the employee’s additional CPP and/or QPP contributions are to be taken into account in the calculation of the base income used for calculating the amount to be withheld for income tax purposes.

Further information:

CRA contact:
Claire Arjang
Manager, Specialized Statutes and Regulatory Affairs Section
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
Telephone: 613-670-0532
Email: Regulations-Reglements@cra-arc.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: 2019-04-01

Northern Residents Travel Benefits Deduction

Enabling Act: Income Tax Act 

Description: As part of the Northern Residents Deductions, the travel benefits deduction can be claimed for trips taken by the individual, or their household members living with them at the time of the trip, for vacation, family or medical reasons (maximum of two non-medical trips per person) that start from a prescribed zone. Currently, the maximum deduction for each eligible trip is the lowest of the following three amounts:

  • the value of the travel benefit received from the employer;
  • the actual cost of the trip (supported by receipts); and
  • the lowest return airfare available at the time of the trip between the airport closest to the taxpayer’s residence and the nearest designated city to that airport.

These maximum deduction rules, including the list of designated cities, are contained in the Income Tax Regulations.

The objective of this proposal is to reduce the administrative burden for taxpayers and their representatives when claiming the travel benefits deduction, specifically regarding the requirement to determine the lowest return airfare ordinarily available at the time a trip is made. The proposed amendment would instead require that a reasonable amount in respect of return airfare be obtained for the date of travel within a reasonable amount of time of when the trip is made.

Under the amended wording, the airfare amount could more easily be obtained as it could be documented prior to the date of travel and there would no longer be the requirement to ensure that it was the lowest airfare available. The airfare would still have to correspond to the day of travel.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic, international): No regulatory cooperation efforts are required.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses: There may be business impacts. The small business lens may apply.

The small business lens requires federal regulators to identify and take into account the needs of small businesses when designing regulations. If small businesses will be impacted, further analysis must be undertaken.

Consultations: The Canada Revenue Agency (Agency) travelled to northern Canada in 2016 as part of the Serving You Better consultations. In addition, a regulatory consultation paper detailing the proposal to simplify the lowest return airfare requirement was published on Canada.ca in 2019.

Canadians will have a further opportunity to provide input when the proposed regulations are pre-published in Canada Gazette, Part I for a 30 day comment period.

CRA contact:
Claire Arjang
Manager, Specialized Statutes and Regulatory Affairs Section
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
Telephone: 613-670-0532
Email: Regulations-Reglements@cra-arc.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: 2018-10-01

Electronic Signatures

Enabling Act: Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

Description: If an individual or a corporate taxpayer wishes to file their income tax return through an electronic transmitter or e-filer, they must authorize the e-filer to do so by completing either a T183, Information Return for Electronic Filing of an Individual's Income Tax and Benefit Return or a T183CORP, Information Return for Corporations Filing Electronically.

Both of these information returns require that the taxpayer sign the return and provide a copy of it to the e-filer, who must in turn keep a copy of the information return in their records as they may be asked by the Canada Revenue Agency to provide proof of the signed information return during its monitoring process.

Currently, subsection 150.1(4) of the Income Tax Act requires that these information returns contain a wet signature by the taxpayer.

Because the Agency encourages the tax filing community to use our electronic services, the filing community believes that the Agency should accept electronic signatures. To meet the evolving expectations of taxpayers and e-filers, the Agency would like to be able to recognize a T183, Information Return for Electronic Filing of an Individual's Income Tax and Benefit Return or a T183CORP, Information Return for Corporations Filing Electronically that contains an electronic signature as meeting the requirements of the ITA.

By allowing for electronic signature, the electronic filer will be able to comply easily with the monitoring process. This will provide greater benefits to all parties involved.

Regulatory cooperation efforts (domestic, international): No regulatory cooperation efforts are required.

Potential impacts on Canadians, including businesses: There may be business impacts. The small business lens may apply.

Consultations: The Canada Revenue Agency consulted with the e-filer community in respect of the proposed changes in February 2020. The Agency is currently analysing the large number of submissions received and will provide further updates when appropriate.

CRA contact:
Claire Arjang
Manager, Specialized Statutes and Regulatory Affairs Section
Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
Telephone: 613-670-0532
Email: Regulations-Reglements@cra-arc.gc.ca

Date the regulatory initiative was first included in the Forward Regulatory Plan: 2019-11-14

Consult the Canada Revenue Agency’s acts and regulations web page for:

  • a list of acts and regulations administered by the Canada Revenue Agency ; and
  • further information on the Agency’s implementation of government-wide regulatory management initiatives.

Consult the following for links to the Cabinet Directive on Regulation and supporting policies and guidance, and for information on government-wide regulatory initiatives implemented by departments and agencies across the Government of Canada:

To learn about upcoming or ongoing consultations on proposed federal regulations, visit:

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