| Mr. Steve Tierney | B. Fioravanti |
| Chief | (613) 957-2071 |
| Tax Harmonization and Payments | HBW 1046-2 |
| Federal Provincial Relations Division | HBW 1046-3 |
| Department of Finance | HBW 1046-4 |
| 15th Floor, East Tower | HBW 1046-5 |
| L'Esplanade Laurier | HBW 1046-7-1 |
| 140 O'Connor Street HBW 1046-8-1 Ottawa, Ontario HBW 1046-9-1 K1A 0G5 HBW 1046-10 HBW 1046-11-1 HBW 1046-12 HBW 1046-13 |
June 13, 1990
Dear Mr. Tierney:
Re: Coming Into Force of Provincial Penalty Provisions
We are writing to inform you of an irregularity which appears to exist in the amendments to the provincial income tax legislation which are designed to mirror the administrative provisions of the federal act. This issue has been previously discussed with your Department on a number of occasions.
Although the provincial penalty provisions generally match the federal provisions in substance, it has come to our attention that in most cases the coming into force dates do not coincide.
For example, section 9 of Nova Scotia Bill 99 was effective on Royal Assent June 15, 1989, while its federal counterpart, section 163, was effective on Royal Assent September 13, 1988.
During this gap in the effective dates the federal and provincial penalty provisions are not consistent and could adversely affect our administration of the provincial legislation.
It is our practise to assess penalties as provided in the federal income tax act on outstanding federal and provincial taxes. It is not administratively feasible to provide for differences in the effective dates between federal and provincial legislation.
Of all the provinces, it appears that only Manitoba has taken this into consideration. Section 26 of Bill 86 has a coming into force date of September 13, 1988, which coincides with its federal counterpart.
It would be appreciated if you could attempt to resolve this problem with the provinces.
Yours sincerely,
Christine Savage Acting Director Provincial and International Relations Division
b.c.c. Mr. J.M. LegaultDirector Returns Processing Division
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