Finance Minister Bill Morneau is looking to eliminate more tax credits as he prepares for the 2017 budget, a move that could simplify the tax code while also raising new revenue for a cash-strapped Liberal government.
The Finance Minister made back-to-back parliamentary-committee appearances Wednesday, one day after releasing a fall fiscal update that promised increases to infrastructure spending but also forecasted larger deficits due to slower economic growth.
Tax credits – which are officially called tax expenditures but are often referred to as boutique tax cuts because they can be targeted at specific segments of the population – are worth about $100-billion a year in foregone federal revenue.
The minister appointed a panel in June to review these credits, but he had been largely non-committal as to whether he intended to take further action on this front.
However, when asked directly during an appearance Wednesday before the Senate finance committee, Mr. Morneau confirmed that more changes are coming.