Pushing for Changes
Earlier this week, the National Allied Golf Association (NAGA)—for which PGA of Canada CEO Gary Bernard is the chair—was featured in one of the most widely read newspapers in the world.
On January 3rd, an article entitled, “Canadians Push to Make Golf Tax Deductible” was featured on The Wall Street Journal’s website. On average, the newspaper and its website are read by an estimated 2.3 million people each day.
“This is unbelievably great publicity for NAGA,” Bernard says. “More and more people are becoming aware of our push to increase awareness of an outdated tax system in Canada that does not allow green fees to be deducted for business-related golf outings.”
NAGA’s Golf Awareness Campaign was launched last April provincial lobby days in Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. In June, a Federal Lobby Day was held in the nation’s capital. This past November, Bernard was in Ottawa as part of the campaign and had a chance to meet with Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport). He also had an opportunity to highlight golf’s impact on Canada’s economy, participation rates, golf courses as environmental stewards and the unfair tax treatment for golf in Canada during a luncheon on Parliament Hill for the Federal Golf Caucus.
The campaign was recognized by Canadian Society of Association Executives as the best government relations campaign of the year, earning the association's Make a Better Canada Award.
The article author’s, Paul Vieira, wrote in the second paragraph: “Since 1971, Canadians have been barred from deducting greens fees for business-related golf outings. Canadian companies and businessmen can deduct hockey and other professional sports events, theater and concert tickets, and pricey meals at the country's finest restaurants, so long as they are business-related. But deducting a host of golf-related expenses—a staple of the tax code south of the border in the U.S.—is out of bounds.”
Viera went on to write, “A caucus of about two dozen parliamentarians from across all political stripes is pushing to persuade Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, himself an occasional golfer, to throw out the old law—introduced in an era when policy makers still viewed golf as an elitist pursuit. Today, golf is the country's most popular recreational activity, beating out even the national pastime of hockey, according to the country's statistics agency.”
The Federal Golf Caucus was formed as an immediate outcome of NAGA’s Federal Awareness Day back in June of last year. The Golf Caucus is the first of its kind and currently there are no other federal caucus’s solely dedicated to individual sport’s in Canada.
The caucus is pushing to have the changes to the tax code announced when the government tables its 2012 federal budget.
NAGA is comprised of seven different Canadian golf associations—the PGA of Canada; Canadian Society of Club Managers; Canadian Superintendents Association; Canadian Tour; Golf Canada National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada and the Canadian Golf Industry Association.
For more information about NAGA, visit canadagolfs.ca
On January 3rd, an article entitled, “Canadians Push to Make Golf Tax Deductible” was featured on The Wall Street Journal’s website. On average, the newspaper and its website are read by an estimated 2.3 million people each day.
“This is unbelievably great publicity for NAGA,” Bernard says. “More and more people are becoming aware of our push to increase awareness of an outdated tax system in Canada that does not allow green fees to be deducted for business-related golf outings.”
NAGA’s Golf Awareness Campaign was launched last April provincial lobby days in Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. In June, a Federal Lobby Day was held in the nation’s capital. This past November, Bernard was in Ottawa as part of the campaign and had a chance to meet with Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport). He also had an opportunity to highlight golf’s impact on Canada’s economy, participation rates, golf courses as environmental stewards and the unfair tax treatment for golf in Canada during a luncheon on Parliament Hill for the Federal Golf Caucus.
The campaign was recognized by Canadian Society of Association Executives as the best government relations campaign of the year, earning the association's Make a Better Canada Award.
The article author’s, Paul Vieira, wrote in the second paragraph: “Since 1971, Canadians have been barred from deducting greens fees for business-related golf outings. Canadian companies and businessmen can deduct hockey and other professional sports events, theater and concert tickets, and pricey meals at the country's finest restaurants, so long as they are business-related. But deducting a host of golf-related expenses—a staple of the tax code south of the border in the U.S.—is out of bounds.”
Viera went on to write, “A caucus of about two dozen parliamentarians from across all political stripes is pushing to persuade Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, himself an occasional golfer, to throw out the old law—introduced in an era when policy makers still viewed golf as an elitist pursuit. Today, golf is the country's most popular recreational activity, beating out even the national pastime of hockey, according to the country's statistics agency.”
The Federal Golf Caucus was formed as an immediate outcome of NAGA’s Federal Awareness Day back in June of last year. The Golf Caucus is the first of its kind and currently there are no other federal caucus’s solely dedicated to individual sport’s in Canada.
The caucus is pushing to have the changes to the tax code announced when the government tables its 2012 federal budget.
NAGA is comprised of seven different Canadian golf associations—the PGA of Canada; Canadian Society of Club Managers; Canadian Superintendents Association; Canadian Tour; Golf Canada National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada and the Canadian Golf Industry Association.
For more information about NAGA, visit canadagolfs.ca