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OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wasted no time doubling down on his attacks against Mark Carney’s use of offshore tax havens as a business executive, opening a video pitch for boosting Canada’s tax-free savings account (TFSA) limit with an unsubtle dig at the Liberal leader’s creative tax planning.
“When greedy, globalist corporate insiders profit by moving money out of Canada, they avoid paying Canadian tax,” said Poilievre in the video, posted to social media on Thursday morning.
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“But when patriotic Canadians invest in our country, they pay more.”
The words “greedy, globalist corporate insiders” were set to a progression of still images of Carney speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to hammer home the point.
“Instead of rewarding people for taking jobs and money out of Canada, we need a tax cut for those who bring it home,” said Poilievre, segueing to his pitch for a $5,000 a year “Canada First” top-up to the TFSA contribution limit.
Poilievre said that, if he becomes prime minister, he’ll allow Canadians to put in an additional $5,000 into their TFSAs each year, currently capped at $7,000, on the condition they invest the top-up into a basket of government-approved “Canadian investments.”
“My government will create a definition (of Canadian investments) that will let financial institutions and advisors tell you which investments can go into your Canada First TFSA top-up.”
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A Conservative source said on background that direct real estate holdings wouldn’t be eligible investments for the top-up, but Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) would.
The National Post has asked the Liberal campaign for comment on the Tories’ TFSA proposal and is awaiting a response.
The announcement comes on the heels of revelations that Carney used Bermuda tax havens while head of transition investing at Brookfield, registering two green transition funds in the offshore territory, a well-known destination for tax dodgers.
The video was made before the news broke, but reinforces the narrative that Carney and other financial elites use offshore schemes to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
Carney told reporters on Wednesday this was a common way of structuring such funds to avoid double taxation.
But Poilieve said Carney’s explanation didn’t pass the smell test.
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“(Carney) claims that somehow this money gets funneled through a Bermuda tax haven, only to come back to Canada. Well, why wouldn’t he just leave it in Canada in the first place?” said Poilievre.
Poilieve also said the Conservative platform will include measures to crack down on “the types of tax havens that Mark Carney has used to cheat the system.”
TFSAs are registered savings accounts that may hold both cash and investments.
In most cases, interest, dividends and capital gains earned on investments in a TFSA are not taxable, either when held in the account or withdrawn.
The Harper government brought in TFSAs in 2009 with an initial cap of $5,000, later increasing the cap to $10,000.
The Liberal government reverted the contribution limit to $5,500 in 2016, saying the move would reduce inequality.
The cap has since been raised incrementally, currently sitting at $7,000.
More to come…
National Post
rmohamed@postmedia.com
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