Job Specification

Purpose :

To research, analyze and develop Corporate, Commodity and Personal tax policy, including its quantitative elements, to meet the government's fiscal plan and meet government priorities. Coordinates and prepares presentations, briefing notes, contentious issue notes, ministry letters, policy papers, news releases, budget papers and public consultations papers, communication strategies, and briefs senior management.

Key Responsibilities :

Tax Policy Research and Analysis
The position supports the strategic development and analysis of corporate, commodity and personal tax policy formulation, primarily through the following:
- Identifies, analyses and understands relevant aspects of: the tax structure/system (e.g. policy, principles, legislation, regulation, etc.) for federal and Ontario Corporate, Commodity and Personal taxes, revenue statistics (historical, current and projected), tax competitiveness, concerns of affected groups/sectors, policy consistency, and Corporate and Personal tax experience in other jurisdictions;
- Reviews, summarizes and analyses literature, studies, reports, briefing notes and internal and external policy papers, submissions, etc.;
- Liaises with federal and provincial counterparts, line ministries, interest groups, government agencies to discuss tax policy.
Issue Management/Policy Development
- Coordinates, plans, organizes, and prioritizes all requests for information on behalf of the division to ensure that information meets high quality control standards and deadlines as well as conveys message in a clear, understandable fashion, and ensures that Senior Advisor/Manager/ADM is informed well in advance of reasons for changes in timetable/deliverables;
- Coordinates Ontario's document process and procedures, and liaises with staff and senior management to develop the Ontario Budget and Fall Economic Statement, Tax Expenditure Report and other Documents as required.
- Liaises with Ministry of Finance staff and other ministries to develop procedures and structural frameworks to address relevant issues and projects;
- Manages and addresses current provincial political taxation issues and identifies potential issues of public concern.
- Develops and updates contentious issues notes, briefing and delegation binders;
- Coordinates and prepares presentations, briefing notes, contentious issue notes, Ministry letters, policy papers, news releases, budget papers and public consultations papers, communication strategies, etc.;
- Briefs Senior Advisor/Manager, Director, ADM, Deputy, Cabinet office as appropriate on specific tax policy issues;
- Identifies and incorporates all relevant aspects into the policy development process, including level of approval required and need for follow-up action, legal considerations, communications strategy, input from Branch staff, areas of the Ministry, and government;
- Participates in special projects, Legislative committee Document Searches, incoming Freedom of Information requests and inquiries addressed to the Ministry and Division;
- Maintains and organizes, electronic files, central files and ensure that files are secure(i.e. fully and completely protected from unauthorized access), complete, accessible and up-to-date;
- Develops written work plans and timelines that set out procedures for research, analysis, consultation, timelines for status reports/product review, and an action plan for completion.
- Prepares and researches library material and relevant legislation, speeches, and news releases to obtain additional information in drafting materials.
Consults with clients to obtain additional information to develop appropriate messaging of specific documents.
Communication Responsibilities
- Prepares briefing material, correspondence, research findings, minutes of meetings, budget papers, technical policy papers, etc. in a clear, concise and well-organized manner, and according to prescribed templates, as appropriate;
- Evaluates and prioritizes all incoming mail, providing tax related responses and directing requests for data to correct unit; liaises with managers/coordinators to draft correspondence on behalf of the ADM and other senior Ministry staff
- Delivers oral presentations (formal presentations and informal discussions) in a clear and straightforward manner that is understandable to the audience; and
- Responds to questions from other divisions, ministries, jurisdictions, and on occasion from the public/press, and identifies issues that require senior
management approval.

Knowledge / Skill :

Working knowledge of personal, commodity and corporate taxation to provide research, analysis and advice to senior management and contribute to the policy program development process;
Personal, commodity and corporate tax policy options for the government's consideration to contribute to the policy / program development process, including the Ontario Budget, Fall Economic and Fiscal Outlook and other key Ontario documents.
Government and ministry mandate, legislative frameworks, policies programs and business goals to understand key issues, when preparing briefing materials to inform senior management.
Acts and Regulations (e.g. Freedom of Information) to ensure security of confidential information.
Ontario's taxation system and taxation principles to providing input into the development/evaluation of policy impacts and to contribute to projects affecting a broader range of tax areas, such as transit funding options.
Statistical and quantitative techniques to gather, evaluate, interpret, analyze and extract relevant economic data to support the policy development process.
Government/ministry budget cycle, and policy and program development and government decision- making processes, to participate in the development of policy/program options/proposals.
Research and economic /statistical analysis skills to interpret data, conduct research projects and qualitative/quantitative analysis involving a range of microeconomic, taxation, financial and regulatory factors, and to develop comparative analysis of options, impacts and best practices.
Communications to prepare taxation policy notes and briefings, presentations, correspondence, memoranda and analyses and contribute to the development of budget papers and Cabinet documents.
Data management, website management and design to develop and maintain file retention system and website updates, including ability to streamline functions. Knowledge of industry best practices is an asset.
SharePoint file and tracking system to identify issues and implement strategies to improve work flow and accessibility.
Word processing applications to create, spreadsheets, graphics and databases and to prepare briefing materials, reports, presentations, correspondence and research and policy/program development materials.

Interpersonal / Influencing Skill :

Consultation and facilitation skills to interact/liaise with stakeholders on tax issues and to advise senior management on trends and developments with respect to tax issues.
Partnership and relationship management skills to establish key stakeholder linkages.
Consensus-building skills to influence and provide policy advice and to explain complex policy issues to senior management.

Analyzing / Problem Solving Skill :

Analytical and problem-solving skills to provide advice on taxation policy and assess potential impacts on Ontario's tax system, including development of options and implementation strategies; and propose strategies to respond to issues.
Ability to analyze and evaluate the economic and fiscal impacts of existing and new taxation policies, programs, initiatives.
Review and prepare taxation policy notes and briefings, presentations, correspondence, memoranda and analyses and contribute to the development of budget papers and Cabinet documents.

Decision Making / Responsibility :

Assesses the feasibility/impact of policy options, develops solutions/proposals/options and recommends policy / program enhancements.
Assesses the relevance of data/information; determine data sources and methodology to support statistical analysis; and the presentation of briefing materials and data/information to senior management.
Decisions are guided by provincial and ministry strategic directions, existing legislative/regulatory and policy framework, best practices and government directives and procedures.

Contacts / Stakeholder :

Counterparts in own/other ministries to consult/exchange/obtain data/information on the development of policy options, discuss and resolve issues associated with corporate and personal tax policy.
When requested, general contact with public, media, consultants, other governments and corporate officials in private sector to provide/obtain information/collect data.

Guidance / Supervision :

Oversees and assigns work to students and unclassified and junior staff on research projects and provides feedback to the manager on work performance.

Demands / Pressures :

Work Demands :

Daily unexpected demands and changes/modifications to deadlines on short notice due to urgent requests regarding policy options with tight time pressures.
Daily conflicting demands, based on urgent requests/changing priorities from others, which must be met within short time frames.
Occasional requirement to work beyond normal work hours in order to meet deadlines, which increases in frequency during the Province's budget cycle and fall economic statement.

Mental / Sensory :

Continuous requirements to concentrate when reading materials, analyzing tax policy data, documents and research and when drafting reports, briefing notes and policy related materials.

Conditions / Environment :

Work is performed in a typical office environment.