Tax changes are coming in the new year for small businesses in Saskatchewan and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) describes them as a step in the right direction.
It was revealed in Wednesday’s speech from the throne that beginning Jan. 1, 2018, the income threshold for small businesses will be raised from $500,000 to $600,000.
This means businesses will now pay two per cent on the first $600,000 of taxable income. For any additional income beyond that threshold, the tax jumps to the corporate rate of 12 per cent.
“We’ll have the highest threshold in Canada,” said Premier Brad Wall Thursday.
He added the small business sector is responsible for about 80 per cent of jobs created in Saskatchewan.
“That will allow small business owners to re-invest in their business, grow and expand, and also not be a roadblock for them for growth,” said CFIB’s Marilyn Braun-Pollon, describing what the change will mean to business owners.
She said small business optimism in Saskatchewan remains among the lowest in the country, and while this will help partially restore that, there’s still a long way to go.
“Certainly the fact that we’ll have the best small business tax structure is going to give us a competitive advantage that we didn’t have before.”
Braun-Pollon said she’s also glad the throne speech highlighted the Wall government’s intention to continue to fight against the federal carbon tax, saying a strong majority of CFIB members oppose it.