Finance minister Paul Martin today reaffirmed that the 27% general corporate tax rate is legislated to decrease to 25% as of Jan. 1, 2002.

The rate was reduced from 28% to 27% on Jan. 1, 2001, and is legislated to fall to 21% by 2004.

“A competitive business tax regime is key to fostering greater investment in Canada,” said Martin. “In this regard, it is important to note that federal corporate tax cuts, combined with similar actions by some of the provinces, will reduce the average Canadian general corporate tax rate to 5 percentage points below that of the U.S. by 2005.”