Business Leaders Back Tax Reform Ahead of 2026 Budget

A clear majority of business leaders supports tax reform ahead of the 2026 budget, according to a new KPMG survey reported by The Globe and Mail. The finding lands before finance departments have begun their formal budget planning, which gives executives an unusually early seat at the table.

The survey, conducted by the professional services firm KPMG, asked business leaders about their expectations for the coming budget cycle. Their answer was unambiguous: they want the tax code reformed, and they want it done before 2026 arrives. Strong support, in survey language, is not a lukewarm verdict.

What does the survey actually measure?

KPMG polled executives on their priorities for the 2026 budget, and tax reform emerged as a point of strong consensus. For corporate finance teams, this is less a partisan signal than an operational one. The tax code determines after-tax cash flow, and after-tax cash flow determines capital allocation.

Surveys of this kind carry weight because they aggregate views across firms rather than capturing a single loud voice. When KPMG reports strong support, the phrase implies broad agreement among respondents rather than a narrow majority. CFOs will read it as a directional indicator of business sentiment heading into budget season.

Why does timing matter for the 2026 budget?

Budget cycles move slowly. Departments typically frame their priorities well before formal negotiations begin, and a survey released ahead of that process can shape which questions ministers ask their officials. Business leaders have, in effect, filed their preference early.

The mechanics are straightforward. If the government signals tax measures in advance, corporate planners can model scenarios rather than react to surprises. Certainty, even unwelcome certainty, is cheaper than ambiguity. That is a principle most treasurers can recite from memory.

What should finance teams take from it?

The immediate implication is preparatory rather than actionable:

• Scenario planning. Firms that model reform options now will move faster than firms that wait for draft legislation.
• Stakeholder alignment. A business community publicly united behind reform increases the political cost of inaction.
• Watch the budget document. The 2026 budget, when tabled, will reveal whether the survey's signal translated into policy.

The Globe and Mail's report on the KPMG survey does not specify which tax measures executives prefer, so readers should resist the temptation to fill that gap with wishful assumptions. Support for reform in the abstract is cheap; support for a specific rate change or base broadening (expanding what gets taxed before lowering rates) is the harder currency.

Is strong support a guarantee of anything?

No. Surveys measure sentiment, and sentiment does not legislate. Governments weigh revenue constraints, fiscal deficits and competing constituencies before they touch the tax code. A business consensus is one input among several, and rarely the decisive one.

Still, the direction of travel matters. Executives rarely unite behind regulatory change unless friction has become expensive. Strong support for tax reform suggests compliance complexity and planning uncertainty have reached a level that boards now notice.

The 2026 budget will render the verdict. Until then, the KPMG survey offers finance departments a reason to dust off their tax models and a reminder that the conversation has already started without them if they have not.