by MorinvilleNews.com Staff
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is looking to the federal government to leverage its budget next week to address growing costs of doing business in Canada, as well as make a plan to return the $2.5 billion owed to small businesses in carbon tax revenue.
“The upcoming budget needs to return confidence to small businesses about their future,” said CFIB Executive Vice-President of Advocacy Corinne Pohlmann in a media release Wednesday. “These remain challenging times for Canada’s small businesses. They’re still struggling to recover and grow, especially after Ottawa’s decision not to extend the forgivable Canada Emergency Business Account deadline and forging ahead with increases in carbon taxes, employment insurance premiums, CPP premiums and alcohol taxes so far this year.”
A recent CFIB survey indicates 79 per cent of respondents find the recent carbon tax increase poses a challenge for their business, making it difficult to cover other operational expenses. A higher number (92%) want the feds to immediately return the $2.5 billion to small businesses across all sectors rather than selected sectors.
“Our top budget priority is to see an immediate return of the $2.5 billion in carbon tax rebates that the government has been promising to SMEs since 2019. In addition, the government has promised to return $623 million for 2024/25, raising the total to over $3.1 billion in money owed to SMEs,” said CFIB PREsident Dan Kelly.
In addition to the return of promised carbon taxes to businesses, CFIB is calling on the Trudeau government to lower the federal small business tax rate from 9% to 8%, at least for the next two years, increase the small business deduction threshold and index it to inflation going forward, and lower Employment Insurance (EI) premiums for smaller employers. Additionally, CFIB is calling for the introduction of a timeline to balance the budget, and reduce red tape for businesses.
Businesses wishing to make their voice heard can sign the CFIB’s petition as well as one calling for carbon tax fairness.
