'We recognize it's a very challenging time': Minister insists budget won't blunt innovation
CTV
Despite significant criticisms from business owners and entrepreneurs that parts of the federal government's latest budget — specifically changes to taxes on capital gains — will stunt innovation, Small Business Minister Rechie Valdez insists it won't.
Despite significant criticisms from business owners and entrepreneurs that parts of the federal government’s latest budget — specifically changes to taxes on capital gains — will stunt innovation, Small Business Minister Rechie Valdez insists it won’t.
“We recognize it's a very challenging time,” Valdez told CTV’s Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, in an interview airing Sunday.
She added that the goal of the latest budget is to “create fairness for every generation,” citing other budget priorities, namely building up housing stock.
“To be able to increase the cost of affordability in this country, we've introduced measures to help support small- and medium-sized businesses across the country,” she continued, pointing to changes to the lifetime capital gains exemption as an example.
Included in the newly tabled federal budget is a proposed change to the capital gains inclusion rate, which the government estimates will affect a narrow group of high-earning individuals and about 12 percent of corporations.
The Liberals plan to increase the taxable portion of capital gains from half to two-thirds for all corporations, and for individuals with a capital gains above $250,000. That tax increase is expected to generate $19.3 billion in revenue over the next five years.
But several Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs are warning that the change could blunt innovation.
