The competition Bureau will not review Netflix

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Christopher Nardi

Friday, 16 march, 2018 21:18

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Friday, 16 march, 2018 21:18

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OTTAWA-the competition Bureau considers that the exemption from taxes granted to Netflix is not an anticompetitive practice, according to a letter sent to the Bloc québécois.

“We understand that the ministry of Finance and other policymakers are well aware of the tax issues related to the economy of the digital age and the potential impact on the market. Therefore, we will not take further measures in this regard for the time”, indicated by letter from John Pecman, Commissioner of competition.

It was in response to a inquiry request of the Bloc québécois last November. The party alleged in its request that “exempting Netflix GST, [Mélanie Joly] has deliberately chosen to go against the advice of its own experts, to grant preferential treatment to a multinational”.

Recall that the Trudeau government announced in September an agreement of $ 500 million with the american service of online distribution. The agreement provides for investments in the production, but does Netflix with no tax.

“The competition Bureau seems not to want to put them at odds with the government contradicting on the public square. If there had been no issue, it seems to me obvious that the Commissioner would have issued a favourable opinion to the government,” commented the chief parliamentary Bloc Québécois, Xavier Barsalou-Duval.