Bill C-13, the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act receives royal assent
After speedy passage through the House of Commons and Senate, Bill C-13 received royal assent on March 25, 2020.
Bill C-13 makes amendments to the wide range of federal Acts needed to implement the Department of Finance’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan released on March 18. Below are some of the amendments to the Income Tax Act (the “Act”):
- Section 122.5 of the Act was amended to provide for the increase in the GST/HST credit amounts for eligible individuals;
- Section 122.6 was amended to provide for the increase in the Canada Child Benefit payments for eligible individuals;
- Section 153 of the Act was amended to provide for the reduction in employee source deductions for eligible employers for the period from March 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020; and
- Section 146.3 of the Act was amended to reduce the required minimum withdrawals from registered retirement income funds for 2020 by 25%.
The full text of the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act is available at https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-1/bill/C-13/royal-assent