by Morinville News Staff
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who have been supportive of some of the province’s budgetary decisions, has accused Premier Jason Kenny of dipping into pockets with a backdoor approach to raising taxes.
When governments do not move tax brackets along with inflation, taxpayers can get bumped into a higher tax bracket. The practice is called bracket creep.
On Friday, The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTPF) delivered a petition with more than 10,000 signatures of Albertans the CTPF say are calling on Premier Kenney to end the hidden income tax hike introduced in Budget 2019.
“Now is the worst possible time to be hiking taxes, but Premier Jason Kenney is reaching into Albertans’ pockets with his sneaky backdoor income tax hike know as bracket creep,” said Alberta Director for the CTF Franco Terrazzano. “Kenney promised Albertans that he would balance the budget without raising taxes, but Albertans are paying higher income taxes because he introduced bracket creep in his last budget.”
The CTF delivered the petition signatures to the Alberta Legislature while standing beside a blown up display of a column that Kenney wrote for the Calgary Herald in 1997, railing against federal bracket creep. In that column Kenney referred to bracket creep as a “hidden and regressive tax grab.”
The CTF contend bracket creep could cost a two-income family $70 to $222 per year, depending on income levels.
“Albertans didn’t vote for higher income taxes or sneaky tax grabs,” Terrazzano said. “Kenney can redeem himself by taking his own advice and scrapping bracket creep in the upcoming budget.”
The CTF’s petition is online at https://www.taxpayer.com/resource-centre/petitions/petition?tpContentId=224
A creep coming from a creep, how unusual!