Government of Canada continues to champion red tape reduction for the benefit of small business

January 23, 2015 – Vancouver, BC – Canada Revenue Agency

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has named the Honourable Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, P.C., Q.C., M.P., Minister of National Revenue, the 2015 winner of its prestigious Golden Scissors Award. The award honours elected officials or others in government who have shown leadership in freeing entrepreneurs from the burden of red tape. Nominations were received from across the country and across all levels of government.

Minister Findlay was presented with the Golden Scissors Award for a change to tax administration that eliminated more than 800,000 payroll remittances for over 50,000 small businesses. Minister Findlay accepted the award from Laura Jones, Executive Vice-President for the CFIB during a meeting with CFIB members.

The Government of Canada has taken a number of actions to cut red tape and to introduce, simplify, and enhance services to meet the needs of Canadian businesses. Minister Findlay also acknowledged the need to continue to take action on this important issue to help small businesses focus more of their time on what they do best: creating jobs for Canadians and economic growth in their communities.

Prime Minister Harper, a champion of the cause since creating the Red Tape Reduction Commission in 2011, calls red tape “the silent killer of jobs”. It isunder his leadership that the Government has taken many actions to reduce the red tape burden for businesses, including:

• Through the CRA’s secure online self-service portal, businesses now have greater control over more than 50 different transactions such as registering for services, making payments, filing returns, making account changes, asking questions, viewing balances, and updating banking and direct deposit information electronically and signing up for pre-authorized debit services;
• The frequency at which payroll source deductions must be remitted to the CRA by small and medium-sized employers was reduced, eliminating in the process more than 800,000 payroll-related payments for over 50,000 small and medium-sized businesses;
• Recognizing that a concise and consistent plain language approach to the millions of notices and letters sent to Canadians will help to ensure taxpayers have the information they need to accessing the benefits to which they may be entitled;
• The CRA launched its first-ever mobile app, the Business Tax Reminders app, which allows small and medium-sized businesses to create custom reminders and alerts for dates related to instalment payments, returns, and remittances; and
• The new Liaison Officer Initiative was launched to help small and medium-sized businesses get it right from start with in-person support and information by CRA officers at key points in the business cycle.