Quebec Budget: The Government Paves the Way to Tax Fairness

Coalition for Culture and Media - CONTINUITY – FAIRNESS – SUPPORT

MONTRÉAL, March 27, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - The Coalition for Culture and Media applauds the Quebec government's decision to update its taxation measures so they apply to foreign companies selling intangible goods and services online. The Quebec government is the first in the country to take a step toward tax fairness in the digital economy by requiring that businesses both here and abroad collect its sales tax (QST) as of January 1, 2019. It goes without saying that the Coalition believes that a good portion of the additional revenue that will be collected by the government should be reinvested in culture and media.

The Coalition's member organizations expect that all the members of the National Assembly will support the government in this first initiative to adapt the Quebec taxation system to the digital economy. This support would be in line with the unanimous motion adopted last October by the National Assembly in favour of tax fairness for all digital platforms in the wake of Ottawa's agreement with Netflix.

Moreover, the Coalition urges the government to quickly instate measures regarding the collection of sales tax (QST) on all other goods and services offered online from abroad, since some foreign platforms are still not subject to the same tax regulations as Quebec businesses, despite today's announcement, which is unfair.

Finally, the Coalition for Culture and Media calls upon the Trudeau government to follow the example set by Quebec. It is inconceivable, to say the least, that Ottawa continues to maintain a taxation system that favours foreign companies to the detriment of Canadian entities conducting business online.

About the Coalition for Culture and Media
The Coalition is a group of organizations active in the cultural and media sectors that represents thousands of people in Quebec and across Canada. In its Declaration for the sustainability and the vitality of national culture and media in the digital era, published in September, the Coalition calls upon governments to restore fiscal and regulatory fairness, to act with continuity, and to implement effective measures to support national culture and media. The declaration can be found on the website Standingforculture.info.

These are the Coalition members that can be contacted on this issue:

Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC)
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA)
Alliance québécoise des techniciens et techniciennes de l'image et du son (AQTIS)
ARTISTI
Association des professionnels de l'édition musicale (APEM)
Association des propriétaires de cinémas du Québec (APCQ)
Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ)
Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL)
Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM)
Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ)
Association québécoise des cinémas d'art et d'essai (AQCAE)
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and its communications sector (CPSC)
Conseil québécois des arts médiatiques (CQAM)
Copibec
Directors Guild of Canada (DGC)
Documentary Organization of Canada and its Québec Chapter
Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF)
Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ)
Fédération nationale des communications (FNC-CSN)
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting
Front des réalisateurs indépendants du Canada (FRIC)
Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC)
Guilde des musiciens et musiciennes du Québec (GMMQ)
L'Observatoire du documentaire
Michèle Rioux, directrice du Centre d'études sur l'intégration et la mondialisation (CEIM)
Observatoire des réseaux et interconnexions de la société numérique (ORISON) - UQAM
On Screen Manitoba
Performers' Rights Society (PRS)
Québec Cinéma
Quebec English-language Production Council (QEPC)
Regroupement des artisans de la musique (RAM)
SOCAN
Société civile des auteurs multimédia (SCAM)
Société de gestion collective des droits des producteurs de phonogrammes et de vidéogrammes du Québec (SOPROQ)
Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC)
Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques (SACD)
Société du droit de reproduction des auteurs compositeurs et éditeurs au Canada (SODRAC)
Internet Society Québec (ISOC – Québec)
Société professionnelle des auteurs et compositeurs du Québec (SPACQ)
Syndicat des employées et employés professionnels-les et de bureau (SEPB)
Table de concertation de l'industrie du cinéma et de la télévision de la Capitale-Nationale
Unifor
Union des artistes (UDA)
Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois (UNEQ)

[email protected]
http://www.manifestepourlaculture.info/
http://www.standingforculture.info/
https://twitter.com/CoalitionCM

SOURCE Coalition for Culture and Media

Catherine Escojido 514-927-8807