Ontario auto dealers are looking for tax relief to help offset the new costs of Bill 148, along with more time to adjust to a proposed minimum wage increase, said Frank Notte, director of government relations for the Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA).
Bill 148 is the culmination of a two year review of Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, and Labour Relations Act. In a detailed submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, the Trillium Automobile Dealers Association (TADA) made two key recommendations:
- Amend Bill 148 to include a provision to reduce the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate to 10 per cent; and
- Slow down the pace of the proposed minimum wage increase — from its current rate of $11.40 per hour to $14.00 — over a longer time frame.
“Ontario businesses have been waiting five years for this scheduled tax relief, and Trillium was disappointed when the 2017-18 balanced budget didn’t include this long-made commitment,” said Notte in the TADA submission.
The tax relief will be needed to set off “the massive new costs of a higher minimum wage, higher vacation pay, paid time off and other provisions in Bill 148.”
Slowing down the rate of the of minimum wage increase would buy dealers some needed time, Notte said.
“If the government wants to increase the minimum wage, our advice is to phase it in over a much longer time frame than five months. This will give businesses more time to adjust their current business plans and provide more predictability in figuring out how to pay for it,” said Notte.
