Federal pre-budget hearings underway

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(Oct. 20/09) When CRFA presents its pre-budget submission to the federal Standing Committee on Finance on Oct. 28, the overarching message will be to make the foodservice industry a public policy priority through which various taxes, regulations and policies are filtered.

Currently, foodservice operators are faced with myriad tax, labour, environment, health and regulatory policies at the municipal, provincial and federal levels.  Rather than requesting direct financial aid, the foodservice industry is looking to the government for fairness in how taxes and policies are applied and operators’ hard-earned tax contributions spent.

CRFA’s other key requests of the government are to:

• work with us and the province of B.C. in particular, to limit the harm of GST/PST harmonization to restaurant operators;
  
  
• absorb the cost of the two-year EI freeze (2009 and 2010) out of general revenue, and not charge it back to the EI account;
  
  
• keep EI premium increases in 2011 and beyond at manageable levels, by developing a new financing scheme that draws down the $57 billion of over contributions by employers and employees in the previous notional EI account;
  
  
• introduce a yearly basic exemption of $2,000 to the employment insurance system to target tax relief (or minimize payroll tax increases) to labour-intensive employers; and
  
  
• implement the unanimous recommendations of the Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce Committee with respect to the credit card and debit card payment system in Canada.

 

Related documents

• CRFA’s pre-budget submission  (PDF)

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