The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released the prebudget submission it sent to the government of Nova Scotia earlier this morning.

“The best way to support Nova Scotia businesses and get the economy restarted to is to leave more money in Nova Scotians’ pockets,” said CTF Interim Atlantic Director Renaud Brossard. “At the same time, the Nova Scotia government needs to control spending and find savings to keep the province’s debt from becoming unsustainable for future generations.”

The CTF’s recommendations include:

• Cutting all income tax bills to boost household disposable incomes;
• Replacing business subsidies with business tax cuts;
• Reducing government employee compensation by 15 per cent;
• Cutting elected officials’ pay; and,
• Scrapping the Yarmouth Ferry subsidy.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is recommending $338 million in personal income tax cuts. This would deliver $1,008 in annual savings for an individual earning $50,000.

Replacing $177 million in business subsidies with business tax cuts would allow Nova Scotia to reduce its general business tax rate to 7.7 per cent, making it the lowest in the country.

“Replacing business subsidies with business tax cuts would provide a boost to all businesses in Nova Scotia, rather than letting politicians and bureaucrats hand out cash to their favourites,” said Brossard.

Out of every dollar spent by the government of Nova Scotia, it spends about 35 cents on employee compensation. When adjusting for education, provincial government employees earn 17 per cent more on average than their private sector counterparts.

“Bloated paycheques for government employees are the elephant in the room: they’re bigger than their private sector counterparts and take up a significant part of the province’s budget,” said Brossard. “If Nova Scotia is serious about finding savings, it must start here.”

The recommendations would reinject $657 million into the economy through tax cuts. That would be made possible with $851 million in budgetary savings. Overall, Nova Scotia’s deficit would shrink by $336 million.

To consult the CTF’s prebudget submission, click here: http://www.taxpayer.com/media/2021-22%20NS%20Prebudget%20submission%20-%20Growth%20for%20all%20Nova%20Scotians.pdf

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