| 2.44 One way to help entrepreneurs
and businesses is to reduce the weight of regulation.
Regulations raise invisible but damaging costs.
Many laws require individuals, businesses and
other private entities to retain records for substantial
periods. For example, the Companies Act and the
Income Tax Act require records to be kept for
seven years. I regularly hear requests to shorten
these record-keeping requirements, as businesses
find them burdensome and costly.
2.45 We have valid reasons to require records
to be kept for a sufficiently long period. They
may be useful as evidence in civil and criminal
cases. Sometimes, international treaties oblige
us to require the retention of documents for certain
periods. Nevertheless, we should seek to lighten
the burden on businesses wherever possible.
2.46 An inter-ministry team has reviewed the
record-keeping requirements prescribed in our
many pieces of legislation. I have decided to
reduce the record-keeping period in 17 statutes,
generally to five years. The details can be found
in Annex
C.
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