CADA moves forward with luxury tax fight
October 12, 2021
CADA continues its two-year battle on the luxury tax, lobbying against the federal government proposal that aims to include a 10 per cent tax on cars over $100,000 starting in 2022.
Most recently, CADA put forward a submission to Finance Canada on the proposed tax. The move follows a clear message from the association that the new tax would be detrimental to the economy—particularly as the auto retail sector was down 20 per cent in 2020.
“CADA’s lobby actions have included direct meetings with the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister’s Office, and a full range of MPs,” said the association’s Director of Public Affairs, Huw Williams. “We have also worked closely on a weekly basis with the manufacturers’ associations to push back this tax proposal.”
In order to minimize the impact of the tax, CADA had proposed to the Minister that if the government would not scrap the tax, then a fairer approach would be to apply the tax only on the marginal amount over the $100,000 mark. Following the tabling of the federal budget this April, where the luxury tax was addressed in detail, the Minister of Finance agreed to enact a key CADA lobbying ask by not applying the new tax from dollar one.
“Doing this means that the tax on luxury cars with a retail sales price of more than $100,000 would be calculated at the lesser of 20 per cent of the value above the $100,000 threshold, or 10 per cent of the full value of the luxury car,” said Williams.
As an example, a new tax on a $120,000 car after January 2022 would result in an additional $4,000 in taxes instead of the additional $12,000 tax that was originally proposed by the federal government.
CADA also met with the Minister of Finance's office immediately following the introduction of the budget in the House of Commons to discuss the impact of such a tax, where they eventually accepted the amendment.
The association’s September 2021 submission to Finance Canada on the luxury tax consultation focused on five key elements:
- Policy objections as to why the tax will not raise revenue and will kill business;
- Recent scope expansion to include commercial and fleet vehicles;
- Compounding taxation (B.C., Quebec, and future examples);
- The need for electric vehicle exemptions; and
- Implementation considerations.
“With this report, we hope the federal government will understand the negative impact the tax will have on the automotive retail industry, and instead focus on other areas that will help improve the sector as we continue to work through the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Williams.
Further updates on the association’s lobby campaign will be included in future CADA Newsline articles.