We need a permanent tax advisory office

A permanent tax advisory office would enable the Department of Finance to more effectively harness private-sector tax expertise, of which there is no shortage in this country. Photo by Unsplash/Postmedia files

As the country prepares for next week’s federal budget , will the long-standing need for serious tax reform once again be overtaken by more pressing political priorities?

In this spring’s federal election, both main parties proposed to tackle deficiencies in our tax system . Conservatives promised a tax reform task force focused on tax simplification, while the Liberals committed to an expert review of the corporate tax system . Yet despite this apparent political agreement, tax reform seems to have dropped off the national agenda as the first Carney budget approaches.