A federal budget two weeks after fiscal year begins – what’s the excuse? – Globe and Mail
Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has announced that the 2024 federal budget will be delivered on April 16. That is more than two weeks after the April 1 start of the budget year: fiscal 2024-25.
Late federal budgets have become a pattern. The 2023 budget was delivered March 28 – just three days ahead of April 1, and nowhere near early enough for Parliament or anyone else to even consider the fiscal plan before the year started. In both 2022 (April 7) and 2021 (April 19), the government also failed to get the budget out before the new fiscal year began. Go back a year earlier, and the situation was even worse. There was no budget.
It should be clear: Timely budgets with their tax and expenditure plans are good.…
Reasons a Federal Budget After the Start of the Fiscal Year Could Be Cause for Concern: Don Drummond
C.D. Howe Institute Fellow-In-Residence Don Drummond joined BNN Bloomberg to talk about the top fiscal considerations for Budget 2024 as well as the significance of the budget being released after the fiscal year begins.
How to lessen Ottawa’s addiction to income taxes – Financial Post
Looking around the OECD, Canada is an average-tax nation overall but relies far more on income taxes and much less on consumption levies than most other industrialized nations. Leaning so hard on income taxes hurts our economic performance.
Every tax creates economic distortions but some overused taxes are more damaging than others. By raising more of our revenue from the less damaging taxes we could improve economic performance without reducing public services.
The latest C.D. Howe Institute Shadow Budget proposes a simple change in the federal tax mix: raise the GST rate by two percentage points — back to its original rate of seven per cent. At the same time, cut the federal corporate rate by two percentage points and…
Jack Mintz – Let’s Abandon Vacant Property Taxes
From: Jack Mintz To: Municipal housing watchers Date: March 7, 2024 Re: Let’s Abandon Vacant Property Taxes The latest fashion in tax grabs is the vacant property tax (VPT). In Vancouver it’s called the “empty home tax.” In Toronto it’s the “vacant home tax.” Whatever the name, taxing residential property that is not occupied for […] Don Drummond – Budget 2024 Must Correct the Errors of the Fall Economic Statement
From: Don Drummond To: Canadian Budget Observers Date: February 28, 2024 Re: Budget 2024 Must Correct the Errors of the Fall Economic Statement The 2023 fall economic statement projected large deficits through 2028-29 and a net debt-to-GDP ratio that rises in 2024-25 and then declines only slightly, remaining well above its prepandemic level through 2028-29. Interest payments eat up […] Shadow Budget 2024 with Bill Robson and Don Drummond
Raise the GST and luxury taxes. Balance the budget. End Supply Management for the dairy industry. In the C.D. Howe Institute’s Shadow Budget 2024, Bill Robson and Don Drummond warn that we’ll suffer more later if we don’t take the fiscal medicine now.
Pre-Budget Recommendations – Webcast Presentation
Less for Ottawa, More for Canadians: The C.D. Howe Institute’s 2024 Shadow Budget
The federal government’s 2023 Fall Economic Statement confirmed a troubling lack of concern about fiscal excess. It presented no credible plan to lower spending and borrowing to levels that would ensure fiscal sustainability and make room for tax changes to boost Canada’s stagnating productivity and living standards. This Shadow Budget sets out a program, with […] Ian Irvine – Vaping Taxes: Bad Fiscal Policy is also Bad Health Policy
From: Ian Irvine To: Canadians Concerned About Vaping Date: February 9, 2024 Re: Vaping Taxes: Bad Fiscal Policy is also Bad Health Policy Federal and provincial taxation of vaping products has increased dramatically in the past three years. When the federal government moved in 2022 to levy a substantial excise tax on vapor, it took care of its […] John Lester – Consultations on a Patent Box Regime for Canada (Part 2)
From: John Lester To: Finance Canada officials Date: February 7, 2024 Re: Consultations on a Patent Box Regime for Canada Last week’s Finance Canada launch of consultations on a cost-neutral modernization and improvement of the Scientific Research and experimental development (SR&ED) tax incentives included the suitability of creating a patent box regime. In my Memo […] Lennie Kaplan – Alberta Needs Comprehensive Budget Stress Testing
From: Lennie Kaplan To: Alberta budget observers Date: February 2, 2024 Re: Alberta Needs Comprehensive Budget Stress Testing Alberta’s revenue forecasting prowess is back in the spotlight as the province faces potential budget deficits over the next two fiscal years. Alberta has several revenue sources, most notably non-renewable resource revenues and corporate income taxes, that are significantly affected by […] Munir A. Sheikh – Cure for the Public Debt Pandemic: An Economic-Principles-Based Fiscal Anchor
To: Canadian fiscal observers From: Munir A. Sheikh Date: January 31, 2024 Re: Cure for the Public Debt Pandemic: An Economic-Principles-Based Fiscal Anchor Governments across the world are drowning in debt and Canada at $1.2 trillion is no exception. Economic theory provides two fundamental fiscal policy principles to tackle such fiscal problems. First, a government should follow a […]