PM urged to back off digital tax before White House hemispheric trade summit Friday
BNN Bloomberg
Business leaders are seizing on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's trip to Washington on Friday to urge him to delay a controversial tax aimed at foreign tech firms that cater to Canadian audiences.
The digital services tax, which takes effect in January, is deeply unpopular with Canada's most important ally and trading partner, says Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada.
And those tensions are mounting at a time of growing international instability, when the country's relationship with like-minded allies such as the U.S. should be a top priority, Hyder writes in a new letter to the prime minister.
Instead, Canada should agree to U.S. demands that the tax be held in abeyance until a global taxation framework being developed within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development can be introduced.
