Government Financial Reporting

Inappropriate netting of benefit payments obscures the true size of government revenues and expenditures and complicates the evaluation of fiscal measures

The government's Budget and certain financial statements in the Public Accounts and the Annual Financial Report show revenues and expenditures net of payments for the GST credit and the Canada Child Tax Benefit. These payments constitute cash transfers to individuals and should be recorded as part of government spending. Offsetting them against revenues (in effect, treating them as tax reductions) results in confusing and misleading financial disclosure. Over time, this practice results in showing both tax revenues and program spending as much lower amounts than they really are. In the current year, the difference is approximately $9.5 billion.