Biz tax still 'disappointing'

Photo: Colton Davies

The Trudeau government is following through on reducing the small business tax, a campaign promise, but there is still disappointment from the Penticton Chamber of Commerce.

Neil Wyper, president of the Penticton Chamber, said the tax reduction from 10.5 per cent to nine per cent over the next two years is good news, but he isn't impressed with how the process has gone to get to this point.

"It's disappointing that they're coming through with a campaign promise that they went back on, in response to the negativity over the proposed changes" Wyper said.

"I'm disappointed that we don't get the full picture yet... there's still this shadow of we don't know what's happening with the other tax changes. I wish they would've come up with the full plan before they started piecing it out."

Backlash of the proposed tax changes has been heavy from small business owners and incorporated professionals, with many claiming they would be negatively impacted. 

The proposed changes were announced in July with a 75-day consultation period.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced on Wednesday morning a further tweak to the tax changes, with a threshold of $50,000 annually of passive-income investments allowed to be sheltered from taxes by corporate investors.

"It's certainly not the end of the story yet," Wyper said on Tuesday about how the projected announcement on Wednesday would resonate. 

"We're happy about the reduction of the small business rate... but the chambers across the country are still working together to watch the rest of the changes that were talked about over the summer, and make sure that, as much as we can, what comes out fits Canadians better than what was proposed."