PACP Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Public Accounts |
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Comité permanent des comptes publics |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
INFORMATION ON TAX-BASED EXPENDITURES AND THE DOCUMENTATION OF EVALUATIONS OF THESE EXPENDITURES NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED
Ottawa, June 17, 2015 -
OTTAWA – The Department of Finance Canada has appropriate practices to analyse new tax measures, to monitor existing tax-based expenditures and to share information with the Canada Revenue Agency, but it needs to improve the quantity and quality of information on tax-based expenditures that is available to Parliament and Canadians, and to better document its evaluations of tax-based expenditures, according to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts’ report tabled today in the House of Commons by Committee Chair David Christopherson.
In Canada’s parliamentary system, one of Parliament’s fundamental roles is to review, approve and hold the federal government to account for its spending. While tax-based expenditures may be a substitute for direct program spending, they fall under the category of statutory expenditures which are governed by specific legislation and do not require yearly approval by Parliament, unlike direct program sending which falls under the category of voted expenditures.
In its Spring 2015 Report, the Office of the Auditor General released a performance audit that examined whether the Department of Finance Canada, with the support of the Canada Revenue Agency and consistent with their respective roles and responsibilities, properly managed tax-based expenditures. It also examined whether the Department of Finance Canada reported clear and useful information on tax-based expenditures to support proper scrutiny by Parliament and Canadians.
The Office of the Auditor General found that the Department of Finance Canada had appropriate practices to analyze new tax measures, to monitor existing tax-based expenditures and to share information with the Canada Revenue Agency. However, the Office of the Auditor General concluded that the Department of Finance Canada fell short on managing tax-based expenditures because these expenditures were not systematically evaluated and the information reported did not adequately support parliamentary oversight.
In its report, the Committee notes that the Department of Finance Canada committed to improve the quantity and quality of the information on tax-based expenditures that is available to Parliament and Canadians, and to better document its evaluations of these expenditures. The Committee recommends that, by February 29, 2016, the Department of Finance Canada provide the Committee with a report outlining its progress towards meeting these commitments.
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