In addition to yachts and high-end vehicles, business, personal, and other general aviation aircraft remain in the Canadian government’s luxury tax proposal. The tax is included in the government’s federal budget, which has been pending for two years but is now expected to be enacted, with the luxury tax taking effect on Jan. 1, 2022.
The Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) has been fighting the tax since it first appeared in the proposed budget in 2019. In its latest protest, the CBAA said the government’s assumption that a “small airplane is an unessential, high-end toy totally misrepresents how these aircraft are generally used.”
According to CBAA president and CEO Anthony Norejko, “Small aircraft have been a niche tool to deliver personnel, food and supplies, equipment, and other essential services to communities of all sizes, many of which have only the most basic airstrip for landing and takeoff.”
Norejko added, “The possibility of a new tax is not only unfair but can have the perverse effect of stifling an area of economic growth and reduce the ability of Canadians to conduct business and connect by using aircraft.”