Tax relief

Governments around the world are facing the challenges of the global economy. With all the uproar in the United States it is easy to lose sight of Canada’s relatively solid financial position due in part to the measures that were already put in place by the Conservative government. The Government acted ahead of the curve by reducing personal and business income taxes, lowering the GST to 5%, and paying down a record amount on the national debt.

In fact, many world leaders are taking cues from the Conservative government in Canada by using tax cuts to stimulate their own economies.
Britain, for instance, recently announced a 2% cut in their Value Added Tax or VAT, the equivalent of Canada’s GST, mirroring our own 2% reduction which began in 2007 and was fully implemented one year ago.
 
As well, the Obama administration has made it clear that a substantial portion of the coming US economic stimulus package will also take the form of a major tax cut valued in the hundreds of billions.

What is clear is that, in acting early to lower taxes for all Canadians, the Conservative government has been ahead of the curve in meeting the challenges posed by the global economic downturn. We acted early, and have put in place tax relief that many governments are only now realizing is essential to bring the world economy back on-line.

At home, the average Canadian family has seen their tax bill reduced by about $3,500 through a combination of the Conservative government’s cuts to the GST, reductions in income taxes at all levels and an array of new tax credits and opportunities.

The Conservative record speaks for itself. We have cut the GST from 7% to 6% to 5%, four years ahead of our original schedule. We’ve increased the maximum amount of money you can make before you pay federal taxes – an income tax cut that everyone can enjoy and that helps low-income families more. Families now enjoy more choice in childcare as they raise their kids as a result of the Conservative government’s Universal Child Care Benefit.
We’ve also taken steps to provide greater security for seniors living on fixed incomes. In difficult times, we must ensure that the most vulnerable in our communities are more financially secure. Since taking office, the Conservative government has implemented pension income splitting and increased the base personal exemption of income taxes. In all, the average pension-earning senior couple will save over $1,700 per year on their tax bill.

Although Canada has one of the most stable banking systems in the world, the international credit market is borderless. Without intervention, Canada would have seen our available credit plunge as the world economy struggles to right itself. To ensure that Canadian families and businesses can still access credit during this period of global turmoil, the Conservative government is working to inject up to $75 billion to free up credit in our banking system.

The Conservative government is taking real action to help families. Since taking office, we’ve created over $130 billion in new tax savings – money Canadians will be able to use right away.

In other parts of the world, people will have to wait while these measures are implemented or their effects begin to kick in. But in Canada, the early actions of the Conservative government have ensured that much-needed tax relief is already in place to help Canadians weather these challenging economic times.

The Conservative government has provided Kelowna-Lake Country families with real tax relief to help them through the global economic turmoil. And thanks to local input from our business and community organizations we will continue to create innovative solutions as part of our plan for strengthening our local economy and Canada’s economy.

Stay tuned there will be more good things to come this Tuesday, January 27th, Budget Day.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.