The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is expressing concern over the outcome the Economic Summit in Calgary Feb. 9 where a majority of panelists appeared to support imposing new taxes on small business, such as a provincial sales tax and the re-introduction of health care premiums.
“We always welcome an invitation from the Premier to discuss policy. But it was incredibly disappointing to hear so many of the government-picked panelists support new taxes on businesses and entrepreneurs. Some even claimed introducing a sales tax would somehow not compromise the Alberta advantage,” says Richard Truscott, Alberta director for CFIB.
“Clearly, however, these views are completely out of step with those of the vast majority of small business owners.”
Truscott chided the tax hike cheerleaders at the summit. “If supporters of big government and big business want tax reform, then that probably means bad news for entrepreneurs. There was little consideration by panelists to the impact of new taxes in terms of compliance costs, administration, and the competitive position of Alberta’s small businesses.”
The tax reform discussed at the summit of introducing a new sales tax was predicated on promises of reducing income taxes by a commensurate amount.
“Entrepreneurs, like other taxpayers, would be understandably nervous that at the end of the day tax reform could ultimately mean a veiled tax hike,” says Truscott.
“The real, underlying cause of Alberta’s budget woes is a lack of long-term discipline on spending. The government has been increasing operating expenditures by five to 10 per cent when the economy is strong, only to be forced to throttle back when times get tough. Alberta needs to break away from the binge and purge approach to budgeting.”
CFIB is calling for legislated spending limits as part of any new fiscal framework.
On the prospect of introducing new taxes to pay for more spending.
“Taxation has been described as the art of plucking the goose in a way that obtains the largest amount of feathers with the smallest amount of hissing. If the Alberta government moves to introduce new taxes on small business, it’s sure to be noisy.”