By Meranda Waters
“Do you know what you have to do to open a small business?” asks Arlene Flock from Flagworks Inc. in Calgary. “It’s crazy.”
As a small business owner, Flock knows first hand. She is one of 25 small business owners who sit on the small business advisory committee for Revenue Canada. Part of her job is to advise Revenue Canada on issues concerning small businesses.
Flock and her colleagues hope their latest Revenue Canada venture, the Guide for Canadian Small Businesses, will help get new businesses up and running.
The guide, unveiled Nov. 7 at the National Arts Centre, was designed to meet the information needs of small business owners.
It’s targeted at new small businesses but also provides information valuable to established businesses.
The guide covers six areas: setting up a business, GST and Harmonized Sales Tax, excise tax and duties, importing and exporting goods, payroll deductions, and income tax. Each chapter includes a list of contacts for more information.
In the past, Flock says, a business owner had to collect information provided by the guide from many different sources.
National Revenue Minister Herb Dhaliwal, who launched the guide, says he’s aware of the difficulties people have dealing with Revenue Canada.
“There are so many variables to stop you from going into business,” Dhaliwal said in an introductory speech.
Dhaliwal owned small businesses in several different areas before going into politics.
Now on the other side of the fence, Dhaliwal says his job is to use technology and common sense to help Canadian small businesses get off the ground.
Don Dutton, of The Dutton Group in Merrickville, is a member of the small business advisory committee. He says he’s pleased with the guide, but is quick to put it in perspective.
“It could always be better. I think it’s a major step forward.”
The new guide is the latest initiative by Revenue Canada to help small businesses. Revenue Canada recently launched pilot projects in its tax offices in Ottawa, Belleville, and Toronto. They’ve equipped the offices with electronic workstations that allow business owners to register for a Business Number and set up accounts for GST and HST, payroll deductions, import, export, and corporate income tax.
The Guide for Canadian Small Businesses can be found at Revenue Canada tax offices or any Canada Business Service Centre. It’s also on the Internet at www.rc.gc.ca.