Facts
10 January 2024
Canada has been slowly moving towards creating a digital services tax for years. In 2019, each of our major political parties had some form of a DST in their election platforms. The vast majority of Canadians agree: big tech should pay tax on their Canadian revenue.
From Netflix to Uber, huge digital corporations are raking it in, selling their services to Canadians and giving nothing back despite enormous profits. A tax of just 3% on their revenue would generate over a billion dollars a year for Canadians.
In 2020, our government made a commitment to create a DST. Since then, pressure from big tech and promises from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to develop an international framework have delayed a Canadian DST.
Many OECD and non-OECD countries, including France, the United Kingdom, and India, have created their own DSTs. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the DST would earn Canadians 7.2 billion dollars over five years.
“Canada has held off on implementing its DST for years in hopes that the OECD process would bear fruit, but now we can wait no longer.” - Katrina Miller, Executive Director, Canadians for Tax Fairness
Despite steps in the right direction, the government missed its own implementation deadline of January 1, 2024. Billions in DST revenue could contribute to healthcare, education, housing, and bettering the lives of Canadians, but we are losing out.
Join us in calling on our Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, to make good on her promise to ensure that 2023 was Canada’s last year without a DST. Implement the DST now!
