People’s Party promises corporate tax cut, end to capital gains

The People’s Party of Canada is promising to reduce the corporate tax rate to 10% and abolish the capital gains tax.

Maxime Bernier’s party released part of its platform Thursday with promises for significant tax cuts. A People’s Party government would reduce corporate taxes from 15% to 10% over the course of one mandate, freeing up approximately $9.5 billion per year for businesses to investment in salaries and productivity, a party release said.

Over the same four-year period, the party would abolish the personal capital gains tax, gradually decreasing the inclusion rate from 50% to zero. The measure would save Canadians roughly $7 billion per year in taxes, the release said.

“Abolishing [capital gains tax] would encourage every Canadian to save and invest more and would give our entrepreneurs access to a larger pool of capital,” the release said. “The benefits to our economy would vastly exceed the loss of government revenues.”

The proposals have not been independently costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, and the release did not indicate what the measures would cost in government revenue.

The party said it could generate annual savings of between $5 billion and $10 billion by eliminating corporate subsidies such as regional development grants, tax credits and conditional loans.

Last month, the Conservative Party said it would conduct a review of business subsidy programs to eliminate $1.5 billion in “corporate handouts.”

The New Democratic Party has promised to raise corporate taxes to 18% and tax capital gains at a rate of 75%. The 25-point hike to the tax on investment profits would raise almost $3 billion to put toward NDP priorities such as pharmacare, childcare, housing and education, the party platform says.

The Green Party would raise corporate taxes to 21% and tax capital gains as normal income.

Mark Burgess

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Mark was the managing editor of Advisor.ca from 2017 to 2024.