Bill S-214

2nd Session, 39th Parliament,

56 Elizabeth II, 2007

senate of canada

BILL S-214

An Act to amend the Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act (tax relief for Nunavik)

WHEREAS the people of Nunavik, in the Province of Quebec, most of whom are Inuit, are experiencing a fiscal imbalance owing to the fact that their cost of living is exorbitant compared with that of Canadians living south of the fifty-fifth parallel;

WHEREAS the people of Nunavik are cut off from other Canadians geographically, economically and politically, and their living conditions are desperate and deteriorating further because of isolation and distance;

WHEREAS the high cost of transportation has a direct impact on the cost of goods and services, and this seriously limits people’s purchasing power;

WHEREAS, on a per capita basis, the Inuit are the most heavily taxed people in Canada;

WHEREAS the level of taxation erodes people’s savings and makes it extremely difficult for small businesses to operate at a profit;

WHEREAS tax relief is necessary to promote economic prosperity and social well-being in Nunavik;

WHEREAS the Parliament of Canada recognizes the need to act in order to remove the economic injustice endured by the people of Nunavik;

WHEREAS studies carried out by various institutions have strongly recommended changes to the tax system in order to exempt the Inuit of Nunavik from paying income tax;

AND WHEREAS the same recommendations have called for government transfers to be indexed in order to better reflect the cost of living in Nunavik;

NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

INCOME TAX ACT

1. (1) The portion of subsection 110.7(1) of the Income Tax Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

110.7 (1) Where, throughout a period (in this section referred to as the “qualifying period”) of not less than 6 consecutive months beginning or ending in a taxation year, a taxpayer who is an individual has resided in one or more particular areas each of which is a prescribed northern zone or prescribed intermediate zone for the year or Nunavik and files for the year a claim in prescribed form, there may be deducted in computing the taxpayer’s taxable income for the year

(2) Subsection 110.7(1) of the Act is amended by striking out the word “and” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding the word “and” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):

(3) Subsection 110.7(2) of the Act is amended by striking out the word “and” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding the word “and” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b):

(4) Subsection 110.7(5) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(5) Where on any day an individual resides in more than one particular area referred to in subsection 110.7(1), for the purpose of that subsection, the individual shall be deemed to reside in only one such area on that day and, for greater certainty, Nunavik and the prescribed northern zone that includes Nunavik are two particular areas for the purpose of this subsection.

(5) Section 110.7 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (5):

EXCISE TAX ACT

2. Subsection 2(1) of the Excise Tax Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

3. Subsection 50(5) of the Act is amended by striking out the word “or” at the end of paragraph (k), by adding the word “or” at the end of paragraph (l) and by adding the following after paragraph (l):

4. Schedule I to the Act is amended by adding the following after section 9.1:

5. Schedule VI to the Act is amended by adding the following after Part X:

COMING INTO FORCE

6. This Act comes into force on January 1 of the year following the year in which it receives royal assent.