NEWS RELEASES
Judge Rules Against Ontario Family Owned Campgrounds
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved through CISION Newswire's website.
TORONTO, Ontario - Ontario Private Campground Association (OPCA), also known as Camping in Ontario, has issued a statement saying that a recent decision by a judge in the Canadian Federal Court system will be “a nail in the coffin for family-owned businesses,” including many Ontario campgrounds. "This is our association's 50th anniversary and we are heartbroken with the decision handed down today by the courts," Mike Tomaszewski, campground owner and president of the board of Camping In Ontario, said in a news release. "We are family businesses that provide sustainable jobs for rural communities. We deliver on environmental and economic prosperity and life for Ontario towns. We're not tax evaders, we contribute to our economy."
The judge’s decision upholds a 2016 ruling by the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) that, based on business structure, some private-sector campgrounds are too small to qualify for the small business tax deduction because they do not employ at least five full-time year-round staff. Family-run campground owners will now have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes for being, as the CRA claims, "essentially a mobile home park." The ruling is expected to impact other seasonal small-businesses as well including ski hills, golf courses, marinas and tree-top trekking, along with campgrounds in other Canadian provinces.
Read the full text of the OPCA statement here.
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