November 3, 2016 – The Performing Arts Tax Working Group has had a few key meetings recently, and we are now looking forward to shaping solutions with the Canada Revenue Agency soon.
Further to the initial meeting with the CRA, in March, the Working Group met in July to share the outcomes of internal research and of external consultations.
This new knowledge was presented at a meeting with the CRA in early October. This meeting was an opportunity to affirm the need to examine the international taxation process as whole – identification, withholding, information returns, and tax returns – rather than focussing mainly on withholding. After all, it is an infinitely complex issue involving different regulations and guidelines. It therefore needs to be treated as a system.
Then, in conjunction with Arts Day on Parliament Hill, members of the Working Group met with political staff from the office of the Minister of Revenue. Using specific cases, this meeting enabled us to demonstrate the extent to which CRA is imposing itself, Canadian presenters and international artists an administrative burden much greater than the potential tax revenues from non-residents performing in Canada. Support was also garnered for an all-stakeholder meeting with all CRA divisions involved in the non-resident taxation process.
We are hoping that this holistic approach will enable the Working Group and the CRA to identify ways to streamline non-resident taxation.
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