Tax talk focus of Sask. legislative debate
CBC
Tax season may be over, but tax talk was the centre of debate inside the Saskatchewan legislature.
On Tuesday, the government passed Bill 122, which creates the Saskatchewan Revenue Agency. The agency is merely an idea, but the legislation created a framework for collecting and administering corporate taxes in the province.
The government highlighted it in the fall throne speech, saying the agency would increase provincial autonomy from Ottawa and allow the province greater control over taxes and incentives.
"This Act is among the steps our government is taking to protect and defend Saskatchewan's economic autonomy, industries and jobs from federal intrusion and constitutional overreach," Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said when the bill was introduced in December.
"Usually we don't introduce framework legislation. We talked about it in the throne speech and no one seemed to notice," Harpauer said Wednesday.
"I think we were sending a strong message that we're going to pursue this and we're going to do it in consultation. It cannot happen overnight. Obviously, this will be a pretty substantive undertaking."
Harpauer said the government has not determined what the new Crown would cost to start up or operate.
She said the government will conduct consultations before deciding whether to proceed.
"I think it's a pretty significant change that we're suggesting and I think that consultation is very important and if there is absolutely no reason to pursue it, then we won't go through the cost of even doing the deeper dive."
Harpauer highlighted a couple of reasons that motivated the change.
One is the desire to have tax incentives that cater to Saskatchewan businesses and not the federal government's preference.
"Having to design tax incentives that target our industries, the federal government has to agree to it or they want to administer it. So we have to design them in such a way that it suits the federal government, not necessarily suits our businesses."
She said another reason is a "two-year lag" between receiving data on how much tax is collected from the province. Harpauer said that can result in the province having to pay Ottawa if a projection in a certain year is off.
Harpauer said the framework of the legislation allows for personal income tax to be collected as well but the province is not pursuing that idea now.