Tuesday marked the release of the new Liberal government’s first budget. The budget, entitled “Growing the Middle Class”, did not contain the anticipated changes to the tax treatment of employee stock options discussed last week on Deal Law Wire. The proposed changes were first announced in the Liberal party’s election platform and would have capped claims for employee stock option deductions by high earners. Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau indicated yesterday that the proposed changes to employee stock options are no longer in the federal government’s plans. This is good news for Canadian start-ups that voiced concerns that the changes would have hindered future innovation and drained top talent from Canada.
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP’s full coverage of the tax measures introduced in the budget can be found here.
The author would like to thank Sam Zadeh, articling student, for his assistance in preparing this legal update.
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