Kelowna: The Kelowna Chamber, which has relentlessly battled against the proposed federal tax policy changes affecting small business since they were announced in July, welcomes the government's plans to revise its proposed tax reforms and to reduce the small business tax rate to nine per cent.

"The new measures proposed today, while not perfect, are more balanced and address a number of the issues that we have raised over the past several weeks," said Chamber President Tom Dyas. "The Kelowna Chamber will be vigilant though on the details and application, to ensure they actually deliver on the revisions they have mentioned today."

Although the Kelowna Chamber still has significant reservations on some of the proposed changes, the Chamber's efforts on behalf of their members were successful, and the Minister of Finance has made an effort to take the opinion of small business owners across the country into consideration in this new version of his proposed tax changes.

"We want to thank our MP, Stephen Fuhr, who voiced the concern he was hearing from small business owners here in Kelowna," said Dyas. "It is clear the Finance Minister understood the apprehension that was being expressed by many of his caucus colleagues who were getting an earful from their constituents."

The Chamber also appreciated the Minister's call for further input from Canadian businesses and intends to continue providing their members with a voice to ensure the tax system is simpler and does not adversely affect Canada's competitiveness. The reduction in the small business tax rate is positive but there is still room for improvement. The Chamber is standing by to help communicate the specifics of the revised legislation to their members, but like everyone else, is in a holding pattern until more concrete details are made public.

For more information:

Tom Dyas
president@kelownachamber.org

250.861.8834