It’s Time to Fairly Tax and Regulate the New Internet Media Services
This study focuses on the rise of the new media, in a mainly unregulated and undertaxed fashion, since about the mid- to late-2000s. Over-the-top service companies, such as Netflix and YouTube, with no physical presence in Canada enjoy an artificial advantage over their Canadian competitors in that they are not required to collect and remit value-added taxes (sales taxes), and frequently don’t pay income tax. Canada loses hundreds of millions of dollars in unremitted taxes annually because of this loophole, which the European Union, New Zealand and other jurisdictions have recently moved to close.
The study makes recommendations for the CRTC, Canada Revenue Agency and Department of Finance to hold foreign-owned OTTs to the same rules as other major Canadian media companies when it comes to online broadcasting in order to help develop a true level playing field.
