Conservative leader Andrew Scheer says he supports single Quebec tax return

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says he’s in favour of Quebecers filing a single tax return to be overseen by the Quebec government.

Scheer tells a news conference in Quebec City that he would make negotiating a deal with the province a priority if his party is elected in 2019.

READ MORE: Quebec premier says province could handle single tax return ‘to simplify lives of citizens’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already nixed the idea of one tax return that would be administered by the province, saying it’s not a decision to be taken lightly and not a priority for his government.

The Quebec legislature unanimously passed a motion last month seeking the change.

The debate was sparked when 89 per cent of delegates at a meeting of federal Conservatives in Quebec voted in favour of a resolution to combine federal and provincial tax returns into a single form collected and administered by Quebec.

READ MORE: Quebec to ask Ottawa to allow people in the province to file a single tax return

Quebec is the only province to have a tax department that is completely independent and distinct from that of the federal government; residents are required to file two sets of tax returns each year.

The province has collected the GST in Quebec for the federal government since the early 1990s.

Scheer, whose party won a byelection in the riding of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord last week behind ex-hockey coach Richard Martel, has been aggressively courting Quebec voters in recent months.

READ MORE: Conservatives can ‘win anywhere,’ Scheer says in welcoming Richard Martel