Health minister 'deeply appreciative' of doctors but capital gains changes here to stay
CTV
Health Minister Mark Holland says while he is 'deeply appreciative' of the work doctors in Canada do, the federal government has no plans to scrap the proposed capital gains tax changes outlined in the latest budget, despite opposition from the Canadian Medical Association.
Health Minister Mark Holland says while he is “deeply appreciative” of the work doctors in Canada do, the federal government has no plans to scrap the proposed capital gains tax changes outlined in the latest budget, despite opposition from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA).
“I think that these are fair changes, there's still a lot of tax advantages, advantages accrued to them, that will be maintained and continue,” Holland told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday.
The budget proposes to increase the inclusion rate on capital gains from 50 per cent to 67 per cent for individuals earning more than $250,000 in capital gains in a year, and for all corporations and trusts, without that minimum threshold.
That means the portion of capital gains that are taxed is going up, a change the government says will bring in more than $19 billion over the next five years.
But doctors have raised concerns about the proposal, warning it could undermine their retirement plans, because many of them incorporated their medical practices.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has dismissed the concerns, saying the change is about “fairness,” while Dr. Kathleen Ross, head of the CMA, told CTV News Channel’s Power Play it feels like a “beat down,” for an “already morally defeated and beleaguered physician workforce coming out of the pandemic.”
She said family doctors were “encouraged” by the provinces 15-20 years ago to incorporate as a “saving vehicle for retirement” … “in lieu of increased fees at the time.” Ross added the CMA is estimating about eight per cent of doctors’ retirement savings will be “captured” by the tax change, which she called “substantial.”
