The Commercial Production Association of Toronto is lobbying the federal government and has Toronto MP Dennis Mills onside on a proposal to streamline the fed’s tax waiver policy in the hopes of stimulating more roadhouse work.

Under the current system, 15% must be withheld from payments to non-residents unless a tax waiver is obtained. Non-residents are automatically ineligible for the waiver if they do not file a T2 tax return or if they failed to obtain a waiver for previous work.

Under the proposal, CPAT calls for a 12-month grace period during which foreign producers will be granted tax waivers even if they have failed to meet the fed’s requirements. Over that period, the producers will develop and distribute a guide outlining the steps foreign producers need to take in order to comply.

Currently, according to a CPAT document titled ‘Regulation 105 Tax Waiver Pilot Project: A Proposal,’ foreign commercial producers ‘do not generally know that waivers are required’ when working here. Non-residents are also uninformed that they must file a tax return even when they come for a one-day shoot.