May 16 2007
Alcan Inc. today announced it welcomes the Canadian Government's announcement regarding proposed changes to the International Tax Fairness Initiative from the 2007 federal budget as a step in the right direction.
"We appreciate Minister Flaherty's decision to restore interest deductibility for foreign investments and to take the necessary steps to ensure tax fairness in Canada. We also support using any revenues generated by this initiative to further reduce business taxes in Canada," said Dick Evans, President and CEO, Alcan Inc. "As I have previously noted, Alcan's Canadian operations are linked to the success of our globally integrated supply chain which is dependent on significant investments outside of Canada," he added.
The Minister of Finance of Canada, the Honourable Jim Flaherty, provided additional clarifications by stating that the tax initiative would focus on preventing the use of tax havens and other means used to avoid paying tax.
Mr. Evans added that "given the technical nature of this matter, the upcoming appointment of a technical roundtable of tax experts is a sound way to proceed and will ensure a thorough analysis of any changes. We look forward to cooperating with the experts as they strive to move towards the Minister's stated goal of improving the fairness of Canada's tax system while at the same time being careful not to harm the ability of Canadian multinationals to grow and compete abroad," he concluded.