Principal Issues: 1. Eligibility of a community for the purposes of claiming the northern residents deduction.
Position: 1. The community is not currently in a prescribed zone. Any proposed changes to the Regulation must be initiated by the Department of Finance.
Reasons: 1. Regulation 7303.1.
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Dear XXXXXXXXXX:
Thank you for your correspondence of March 4, 2013, about the northern residents deductions and the region of Northern Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) administers the northern residents deductions under the legislative requirements of the Income Tax Act. A residency deduction and a deduction for travel benefits are available to taxpayers who reside in a prescribed northern or intermediate zone listed in section 7303.1 of the Income Tax Regulations. The region of Northern Cape Breton is not located in a prescribed zone.
You can find more information about northern residents deductions and prescribed zones on the CRA Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/nothernresidents.
Prescribing zones is a matter of tax policy. The Department of Finance Canada is responsible for tax policy and legislative changes to the Act and its regulations. Any proposed changes to tax policy or legislation would have to be considered by Finance Canada and approved by Parliament. I am therefore sending a copy of our correspondence to the Honourable James M. Flaherty, Minister of Finance, for his consideration.
I trust the information I have provided and the referral are helpful.
Yours sincerely,
Gail Shea, P.C., M.P.
c.c.: The Honourable James M. Flaherty, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Finance
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
Robert Dubis
(905) 721-5191
2013-048332