Saskatchewan Party Will Reduce Small Business Tax to Help Drive Economic Recovery

Premier Scott Moe today said if re-elected, the Saskatchewan Party will support small businesses and Saskatchewan’s economic recovery by reducing the small business tax rate for the next three years.

“Small businesses are a key driver of Saskatchewan’s economy,” Moe said. “Nearly 150,000 Saskatchewan workers are employed by small businesses in our province.

“We understand that our small businesses and their employees have been hard hit by the pandemic, and that’s why we want to give them a break by reducing small business taxes over the next three years, as we recover from the pandemic.”

To support Saskatchewan small businesses as they sustain operations, retain and hire new employees and grow their businesses, a Saskatchewan Party government will:

• Reduce the small business tax rate from two percent to zero, beginning October 1, 2020;
• Move the small business tax rate to one percent beginning July 1st, 2022; and
• Move the small business tax rate back to its current two percent, beginning July 1st2023.

The amount which small business can earn at the small business tax rate will remain at $600,000 – the highest threshold in Canada. The cost to the government will be $189 million over four fiscal years.

“That’s an average savings of about $6100 per small business, and I would expect most of that money will be reinvested back into the business, helping to drive Saskatchewan’s economic recovery,” Moe said. “The combination of low small business tax rates and the highest small business income tax thresholds will make Saskatchewan the best place in Canada to start and grow a small business.

“Since the Saskatchewan Party was elected in 2007, Saskatchewan has had the second-best rate of job growth in the country,” Moe said. “In the 12 years before that under the NDP, Saskatchewan was dead last in job creation. Dead last. Let’s never go back to that.

“We know many small businesses are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic, but that recovery is well underway in Saskatchewan. Our unemployment rate is the second-lowest in Canada and employment has recovered to 95 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. We still have a way to go but we’re on the right track.”

Moe said the Saskatchewan Party remains committed to its Growth Plan goal of adding 100,000 new jobs in Saskatchewan by 2030 and small businesses will play a large part in Saskatchewan meeting that goal.

“Giving small businesses a break so they can create jobs and keep our economy strong – it’s part of our plan for a strong Saskatchewan.”

BACKGROUNDER: Small Business Tax

BACKGROUNDER: COVID Business Support Measures