In December 2013, the Board of Directors approved revisions to policy in the Assessment Manual that would exclude dividends paid to principals from assessable payroll, effective January 1, 2015.

As an implication of this change, the Policy, Regulation and Research Division ("PRRD") released a discussion paper for consultation on the compensation of principals, which considered whether compensation policy should be revised to exclude dividends from average earnings to mirror the upcoming change to assessment policy.

During this consultation, stakeholders raised concerns about both the proposed change to compensation policy and the upcoming change to assessment policy. Stakeholders also indicated support for rescinding the decision to exclude dividends from assessable payroll in January 2015, in order to allow more time to further study and consult on how dividends paid to principals should be treated for assessment and compensation purposes.

At their October 23, 2014 meeting, the Board of Directors rescinded the December 2013 changes to assessment policy and directed that this issue be retained on the PRRD's Workplan. The PRRD will be seeking further input from stakeholders on this issue in assessment and compensation policy.