Neoliberalism: "Neoliberalism is a policy model that encompasses both politics and
economics and seeks to transfer the control of economic factors from the
public sector to the private sector. Many neoliberalism policies
enhance the workings of free market capitalism and attempt to place
limits on government spending, government regulation, and public
ownership"
Apparently Pfizer hasn't had enough tax payer funding for their experimental gene therapy? The need still more tax breaks and incentives to operate in Canada
Pfizer Canada wants tax breaks in the upcoming budget
OTTAWA --
Pfizer Canada is pitching the federal government to bring in new tax
breaks and change related corporate tax policies, suggesting the feds
need to do more to incentivize pharmaceutical companies to invest
domestically in a post-pandemic world.
Specifically, Pfizer is proposing that in the upcoming federal budget,
the government “maintain or reduce corporate income tax rates,” and
offers a series of suggestions of ways to do so.
The company suggests that the federal Liberals provide certainty about
how Canadian tax rules, regulations, and policies will be “fair, clear
and predictable,” particularly in how they apply to scientific research
and development as well as contract manufacturing.
Pfizer also wants to see Canada:
-
Improve existing legislative tax measures such as increasing the
Manufacturing & Processing (M&P) credit which decreases the
federal corporate income tax rate;
-
Repeal or postpone the planned phasing out of the Accelerated Investment Incentive beyond 2023, which offers tax relief on newly-acquired eligible property assets; and
-
Expand eligibility to certain tax credits so that they are refundable
to multinational enterprises, not only to Canadian-controlled private
corporations.
The company makes the case that a strong pharmaceutical sector can play
a role in Canada’s economic restart and recovery post-pandemic but in
order for that to happen, the government has to create a “fertile and
hospitable environment” to retain and attract that investment.
It also notes that Canada will be competing for that investment with
other countries who are implementing tax policies that attract
manufacturing, research and development facilities looking to set up new
locations and offer high-skilled and well-paid jobs.
The policy recommendations are detailed by the Canadian arm of the international pharmaceutical giant, in a pre-budget submission provided to the House of Commons Finance Committee.
“Pfizer and others in the health and life sciences industry have been
at the forefront of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, we also
wish to be at the forefront of helping with the economic recovery,” said
Pfizer Canada President Cole C. Pinnow in the submission.
“Improvements to tax incentives cannot, alone, succeed in retaining and
attracting economic activity in the healthcare sector but they are
important building blocks. The overall business environment must be
attractive, including clear and predictable tax outcomes.”
The pre-budget submission was one of 792 different pitches from various
stakeholders, corporations and business people, offering their
perspective to federal policymakers as to what should, or shouldn’t be
included in the upcoming 2021 federal budget.
Pfizer’s submission was published by the committee on Nov. 21, 2020,
before the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was granted Health Canada regulatory
approval. Since then the federal government has been in ongoing
discussions with Pfizer about its vaccine delivery schedule.
That schedule was recently interrupted by Pfizer, and is leaving Canada without any new doses
arriving next week. It’s thrown the national rollout off track, though
the company has made assurances that it’ll soon make up for the
temporary shortages.
In a statement, Pfizer Canada spokesperson Christina Antoniou said that
beyond the pre-budget submission, the company “has never engaged with
anyone in the Federal Government on the tax policy matters referred to
in our submission,” nor had the submission been discussed during any
conversations about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Antoniou said that Pfizer felt it was important to offer their
perspective on what measures the federal government could take to help
restart the economy, which was the question that the committee had
solicited feedback on.
According to the Finance Committee’s website, no submission has been
received from Moderna, the second pharmaceutical giant to have its
COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in this country.
