2005-06 Pre-Budget Submission (857 KB)

Ottawa: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) will appear today before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Federal Director John Williamson will present the central pre-budget recommendations from the CTF's submission, Tax Relief for All Canadians, for the 2005 Budget, which includes:

- Raising both the Basic Personal Exemption (BPE) and Spousal Exemption to $15,000 within five years to provide tax relief for all Canadians. This change will remove 1.8 million Canadians from the tax rolls and benefit the remaining 13.8 million taxpayers. By setting the BPE and spousal exemption at $15,000 - they currently stand at $8,012 and $6,784 respectively - individuals earning $15,000 or less, and families with incomes below $30,000 will no longer pay federal income tax. All other taxpayers will save $1,100 a year; and the tax bill of a dual-income family will fall by $2,200 and that of single-income families by $2,400.
- Limiting expenditure growth to a maximum annual amount of inflation and population growth.
- Instituting a legislated debt repayment schedule with an annual payment of 5 per cent of total revenues.
- Abandoning proposals to subsidize institutional day care and instead introduce a per child tax credit that is available to all Canadian families. Public policy bias on this issue must be neutral as it is parents who are best able to decide what type of child care arrangements most suits their family.
- Redressing inequalities in the Employment Insurance payroll tax regime by lowering and harmonizing employer premiums with those of employees.
- Ending all corporate welfare programs and instead focusing on reducing business taxes to promote Canada's economic competitiveness.
- Adopting the CTF's Municipal Roadway Trust as the most expedient and equitable way to return gas tax revenues to roads in Canadian cities.

Federal Spending is Unsustainable:
"In the March budget, Mr. Goodale said program spending in 2004/05 would increase by 3.1 per cent. Now, we are told it will rise by 6.5 per cent," observed Mr. Williamson. "Increasing spending at such a pace is simply not responsible and highlights Ottawa's inability to budget properly."

Canadians Remain Over-Taxed:
"It is being increasingly acknowleddged that multi-year surpluses are the result of a structural level of over-taxation levied on Canadians by Ottawa," said Williamson. "The Finance Minister recently forecast the budgetary surplus will be $8.9-billon this year. Last month, he reported the 2003/04 surplus was $9.1-billion, and two years ago the surplus was $7-billion. The simplest and best remedy for over-taxation is broadly based tax cuts."