Corporate Canada:income trusts face reversal of fortune

摘要

FACED WITH an attempt by EnCana to convert its C43bn-worth(38bn)of oil and gas assets into an income trust,the government has decided to end the tax-favoured status of trusts.The stage has been set for what some analysts claim will be a reshaping of the country's petroleum industry.In a stunning reversal of its January election-campaign pledge that it would not meddle with income trusts,the minority administration of prime minister Stephen Harper plans to put the trusts on the same footing as conventional exploration and production(E&P)companies,ending their primary reason for being.Trusts have flourished by paying little or no income tax,while making monthly cash payouts to their investors,who are then taxed individually.