The Airdrie Chamber of Commerce has issued a Call to Action to it's members, asking them to fight business tax changes being proposed by the Federal Government.

Earlier this week, Executive Director Lorna Hunt sent an email to members urging them to write to MP Blake Richards about the proposed changes, saying the government needs to know how they will hurt small businesses.

The email cited three things that businesses need to know about the proposed tax changes.  Do you employ family members?  The government wants to scrutinize their compensation to apply a much higher tax rate on income they consider "unreasonable."  Do you invest profits from your business?  The federal government is proposing to tax that income at an effective rate of 70%.  And, do you want to pass your business on to your children?  Tough new rules make it difficult for younger kids to get the capital gains exemption, meaning they could be double taxed.

Airdrie Chamber President Linda Bruce says any of those three things could affect individual businesses in different ways. 

"I think it's going to vary from business to business but certainly dealing with income splitting within a business to allow both spouses to have an advantage within a business, I think that's really important because small businesses take a lot of support within a family to get them up and going and I think that will be a concern for many.   But I think it's going to depend on the business and how they're operating as to which one affects any of the businesses.   All three of those could be a triple whammy on any one business."

Yesterday, 35 organizations from across the country announced they have formed the Coalition for Small Business Tax Fairness to oppose the government's proposed changes.  Those groups include the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors and the Canadian Dental Association.  Bruce says the variety of groups proves that the government's changes need stopping.

"I think it speaks volumes that these are disparate groups that don't generally work together on a day to day or week to week basis and they're coming together, almost by accident, because this is a common issue amongst all the groups that deals with the biggest demographic among business which is small business.  I think they've all identified this is not just an issue, this is a big issue, not just for Airdrie, not just Alberta but really across the nation."

Bruce says the government is just finishing up consultations on the changes and that many groups have felt the consultations haven't gone on long enough and that having them over the summer was not good timing.  Bruce believes the government needs to hear from every aspect of business before proceeding.  

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