Now is not the time for tax increases: 250+ businesses and associations join together to urge the Finance Minister to halt planned tax hike amid pandemic

November 4, 2020 – (OTTAWA) – Today the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is making public a letter sent to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on October 30.

The letter, from Hon. Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, is co-signed by 261 other businesses and associations. The letter urges the federal government to freeze its planned Excise Tax increase on beverage alcohol, currently scheduled for April 1.

The excise tax on beverage alcohol increases automatically each year as a result of measures included in the 2017 budget. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, along with many other business associations, have expressed concern over the automatic nature of the tax increases since that time.

“The situation in which we now find ourselves, with an automatic tax hike set to come into effect mid-pandemic, demonstrates why this tax increase is so damaging,” commented Beatty on the release of the letter. “So many businesses in the food service industry find themselves in a crisis in ways that could not have been imagined in 2017.

“As the Prime Minister recently commented, now is clearly not the time to increase taxes on Canadians. This is doubly true for an Excise Tax rise that targets one of the hardest-hit industries in the middle of a global pandemic,” continued Beatty. “We have written this letter in the hope that reason and a spirit of collaboration will prevail, and the government will freeze this planned tax increase.”

The letter can be found here.

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Because Business Matters

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decision-makers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.

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For more information, please contact:

Phil Taylor
ptaylor@chamber.ca