Poilievre pledges to reverse Liberals’ capital gains tax changes if elected

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will remove the Liberals' proposed higher inclusion rate on capital gains taxes if he becomes prime minister.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Thursday promised to reverse the Liberal government’s controversial changes to capital gains taxes if he takes power in the next federal election.

He made the pledge in a post on X, claiming the proposal was “outright insanity” and would cost Canadian jobs.

Capital gains refer to proceeds from the sale of an asset like stock or a piece of property. In the 2024 federal budget, the Liberals proposed to raise the inclusion rate — the portion subject to tax — on the sale of capital gains to two-thirds from one-half for all corporations and many trusts.

Individuals will continue to pay the 50 per cent inclusion rate on capital gains up to $250,000 in a year, but proceeds realized above that threshold will face the higher 66.7 per cent rate.

The Liberals billed the changes as a move to promote “tax fairness” and close a loophole that helped the wealthiest Canadians avoid taxes on capital gains.

But some business groups pushed back against the changes as penalizing farmers in the process of succession planning and doctors who incur capital gains as part of their practices.

While Canadians’ primary residences remain exempt from capital gains taxes, those with a secondary property such as a cottage may face the higher inclusion rate in a given year.

The Liberal government never formally passed the capital gains tax changes into law amid a Conservative filibuster in the fall and the prorogation of Parliament at the start of this year. But because the measures were tabled in a notice of ways and means motion last year, the Canada Revenue Agency said it intends to administer the changes according to the Liberal proposal in the upcoming tax season.