Banff-Airdrie, Member of Parliament, Blake Richards, is hoping small business owners speak up on legislation that may affect them.

A recent release discusses how some campground owners had been affected by legislation, stating their business was 'too small', considered passive rather than active.

Richards defends the many roles campground owners play saying they're not the only ones impacted.

"I am talking about campgrounds because they are one of the ones that have been affected at this point by some of these changes but really what we're talking about is something that could affect any business that has less than five employees. So this is a concern for all small business owners, particularly the small family run organizations."

Richards, says the CRA are essentially deciding if a business is too small, placing them in a passive income category, which could affect the amount of taxes they pay.

"The tax rate that they should qualify for, the small business tax rate, and the difference between that and then what they are being charged it could be three times the tax bill and they are going back a number of years. So this is significant, we are talking tens of thousands of dollars here. In fact in some cases it's enough to put people out of business."

This isn't a new issue adds Blake, he first heard of it a few years ago.

In the Conservatives last Budget in 2015, a review of these rules was included to eliminate misinterpretation, but once the Liberals took power, that review was cancelled

"The CRA then immediately jumped on that and used it to interpret things exactly the way we were concerned they might and they are going back to some of these businesses for very significant amounts."

Richards says the legislation is shocking.

"We all know how hard small business owners work, particularly those that are smaller run, the mom and pop operations, maybe they have one or two employees, to be told their income is passive rather than active, and that they're too small to be a small business is a slap in the face. Unfortunately, it's a slap in the face that comes at a pretty big price too."

In Alberta, this could come as a double whammy for those who have just started a small business after being laid off.

"This is an opportunity for people to make an income for their family, maybe they can help put a couple people back to work; then for the government to say gee we're going to hit you with a huge tax bill, sorry for the new jobs you created. The government is doing nothing to try and help us and then when we try to help ourselves they kick us while we are down."

Richards says all small business owners need to stand up and take charge because they could be impacted next. Richards is encouraging small business owners to voice their concern by emailing or writing a letter to the Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Canada Revenue and encourage them to review this policy and make the changes necessary so small businesses aren't affected.

If you want to provide your feedback to this issue, Richards encourages you to contact him at his official website.

 

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