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Manitoba’s government would forfeit more than $960 million in annual revenues if it raised the basic personal exemption as much as the Opposition Tories want.
Earlier this month, the Progressive Conservatives unveiled a major plank of its upcoming election platform: vowing to make the first $30,000 of income earned by Manitobans exempt from provincial income taxes.
The promise would nearly double the current basic personal exemption in Manitoba, which is set at $15,780.
The Tories said it calculated how much the election promise would cost the provincial treasury but wouldn’t reveal their figures until a later date. The party initially said it would wait until the NDP called the next election, which must be held on or before Oct. 5, 2027.
‘Reckless’ promise, NDP says
Finance Minister Adrien Sala said in question period Monday that the government made those calculations itself. He called the idea — the highest basic personal exemption in Canada — “another reckless and poorly thought-through proposal from the PCs when it comes to saving Manitobans’ money.”
“We know that the vast majority of that is going to the wealthiest in Manitoba, should it go through,” Sala said.
Surrendering that much money would result in more cuts to health-care and education, he alleged.
A provincial spokesperson said the more than $960 million that would be surrendered in the 2025 tax year, if the PC idea proceeds, would represent around 20 per cent of the income tax revenues Manitoba collects.
Manitoba Finance Minister Adrien Sala called the Tory proposal ‘poorly thought-through.’
(Bryce Hoye/CBC)
The province is forecasting a $1.6 billion deficit for the current fiscal year.
Under a PC government, finance critic Lauren Stone said her party would make up the lost income tax revenues by growing the economy. They would fast-track economic development projects, cut red tape and entice growth by making the province tax competitive, she said.
Party leader Obby Khan has said a significant increase to the personal basic exemption would give Manitobans meaningful tax relief.
“The premier stands up today and acts like two cents a litre” off of milk, a reference to the NDP government freezing the price of a one-litre carton, “is the greatest savings in the universe,” Khan told reporters on March 12.
“You know what’s better than that? Saving $3,000 for a family.”
The PCs estimate a two-income family, earning at least $60,000, would save up to $3,070 per year under their proposal. A person earning $30,000 per year would save $1,535.
Alberta currently has the highest basic personal exemption among the provinces, at $22,323.
Ottawa set its basic personal exemption amount at $16,129 on federal income tax this year.