With the provincial election going on, I hope you didn’t miss the tax cuts that were passed in the House of Commons last Wednesday. Here is just a brief summary of the tax cuts:

• On January 1st the GST will drop to 5% down from 7% just two years earlier.
• The lowest income tax bracket will drop to 15%, and will be retroactive to January 1st 2007. This means that everyone who pays income tax will get a larger rebate in April than they otherwise would.
• The small business tax rate will drop to 11%, allowing small business to reinvest more money in their businesses. This will provide economic growth in our local communities.
• The personal deduction was raised to $9,600. This tax cut is retroactive to January 1st 2007; again increasing your rebate this spring.

These changes are all new, and do not include the various tax credits for workers, parents, and pensioners introduced in the previous Conservative budget. These initiatives will continue to be implemented– and some, such as the Canada Employment Credit (a tax credit for employees) doubled to $1,000 as of January 1st, 2007.

I’m Brad Trost, your MP for Saskatoon-Humboldt. I welcome your feedback, contact my offices anytime. You can contact my office at (306) 975-6133.