Poilievre, Singh target low-income Canadians with suite of tax cuts
Conservatives pledge to cut taxes for working seniors by $1,300, NDP announce $1,000 tax cut for families
The New Democrats and Conservatives both rolled out a series of promises to cut taxes Wednesday that the party leaders say will help provide relief to lower-income Canadians.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's campaign is targeting working seniors with a pledge to increase the amount of money they can earn before they have to pay tax by $10,000.
Under the plan, the party says working seniors with an annual income under $42,000 will now be able to earn as much as $34,000 without paying taxes, saving them up to $1,300 annually.
The Conservative plan does not provide a costing for the measure.
"Only common sense Conservatives will lower taxes, protect seniors' savings and build a Canada where decades of hard work mean a great retirement," Poilievre said in a video announcing the policy.
The Conservatives also announced that they will allow seniors to keep contributing to their RRSPs until the age of 73, up from the current age limit of 71.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper's government scheduled an increase in the age of retirement that would have seen it rise to 67 in 2023, but the move was cancelled by former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
On Wednesday, Poilievre said his party would commit to keeping the retirement age at 65.
NDP tax cut proposals
The NDP is pledging to help working families by raising the basic personal amount, the threshold under which Canadians do not pay tax, from $16,129 up to $19,500.
"We're focused on helping the people who actually need it — families trying to get by, workers squeezed by higher costs, and people directly hit by [U.S. President] Donald Trump's tariffs," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said at a campaign stop in Hamilton.
The new $19,500 basic personal amount will apply to anyone who earns up to $177,882, saving them $505 annually.
Canadians who earn $253,414 or more currently claim the lower basic personal amount of $14,538. Singh is also promising to reduce that to $13,500.
Under the NDP plan, once someone begins earning $177,882 or more their basic personal amount begins to shrink from a high of $19,500 until their income hits $253,414. At that point the new basic personal amount hits $13,500.
The party says the adjustment to both basic personal amounts will cost the treasury $10.4 billion.
The NDP is also promising to eliminate the GST on essentials such as energy, internet and mobile phone bills. Children's clothing and footwear, and prepared meals bought from grocery stores would also be exempt from the GST.
The party says this move would save an average family of four $448 annually at an estimated cost of $4.5 billion a year.
The NDP's tax policy also pledges to double the amount of the Canada Disability Benefit and increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement at a combined cost of $3 billion to $4 billion.
All of the NDP's measures announced Wednesday would cost about $19 billion combined. The NDP says it would pay for these measures by cracking down on corporations that are non-compliant with their taxes, and by keeping the capital gains tax increase first introduced by the Trudeau government.
Both Poilievre and Liberal Leader Mark Carney have pledged to scrap the proposed capital gains tax increase.
Watch | Green Party unveils tax reform for people earning less than $100,000:
The Green Party of Canada announced its own tax-cutting proposal Wednesday, pledging to raise the basic personal amount to $40,000.
The party says the move will benefit 78 per cent of taxpayers earning less than $100,000 by giving them a tax break of up to $3,675. The party says the measure will cost an estimated $47 billion and will be paid for by raising corporate taxes and cutting corporate subsidies.
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