An advocate for taxpayers is pleased to see governments turning towards tax relief, but still has a few reservations about some of the latest plans.
Prairie Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Gage Haubrich noted that while the cuts don't go as far as he'd like, he is pleased to see both the provincial and federal governments focusing to some degree on tax relief.
"I think that's the best thing to see is that governments all around the country no matter their political stripe cut some taxes because they see that their residents are struggling," Haubrich said. "It's not so long ago where the government would say they're just trying to spend more money on something, but now we're actually seeing where governments are realizing that the best way to help people make ends meet is to make sure that they have more money in their pockets. Of course, as taxpayers, we're always going to demand that these governments go further and do more to save taxpayers more money."
Haubrich has mixed feelings on the new Saskatchewan Affordability Act.
"It's good to see the government move forward on any type of affordability relief for people in Saskatchewan, but it could be a lot better," he said. "In this bill we're seeing a bunch of really specific tax credits and exemptions being raised to save people money, which is good, but unfortunately you'll have to make sure that you fit the exact requirements for all of those tax credits.
"Broad based tax relief that affects every single taxpayer is always going to be better than something that has just specific tax credits, right? We've seen the NDP call for a cut on the PST on some items or cut to the gas tax. Adding any of those things would be very good because that means that everyone in Saskatchewan would be saving when they buy gas or they go to the store and not just that they meet a certain requirement laid out in some of these tax exemptions. Expanding it to something broad based that saves everyone money will always be a good next step."
The act also calls for a freeze of the small business income tax rate at 1 per cent.
"That's something the taxpayers have been pushing for a long time," Haubrich said. "Instead of having it jacked back up that moves us to having the second most competitive small business rate in the country. That's a very good move. Those are the type of people that employ our friends and our neighbors. If businesses are better able to survive, that's better for everyone."
As for the federal government's GST holiday, Haubrich views it as a small step forward.
"The current government in Ottawa isn't exactly known for their ability to cut taxes," he said. "So it's good to see that government move somewhere in the right direction and cut some things to save some money. But at the end of the day, it's really not enough for taxpayers. If people are struggling to afford things like diapers and all this stuff, that's going to be cut on for two months, I think it's safe to say they're going to be struggling to afford it after that two months is up. If the government really wants to help people afford those things, like diapers that are necessities, they should just keep the tax off permanently to help people keep saving money in the long run."
The federal government announced a GST/HST holiday from December 14, 2024, to February 15, 2025. It temporarily exempts the GST from a variety of what they're termed essential items.