OTTAWA: In a presentation before the House of Commons Finance Committee, Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) federal director Walter Robinson will present the CTF's pre-budget submission that calls for $10 billion in tax relief measures to be included in the 1999 budget.
Mr. Robinson will testify before the committee at 9am in Room 253-D, Centre Block on Tuesday, November 17, 1998.
The CTF's recommendations include:
- A 10% across-the-board personal income tax cut which would move the tax brackets from 17%, 26% and 29% to 15%, 24% and 27% respectively;
- Immediate re-indexation of the income tax system for inflation to put an end to Paul Martin's stealth taxation, also known as bracket creep;
- Removal of the remaining 3% and 5% federal surtaxes; and
- Adoption of the CTF's Taxpayer Protection Amendment (first proposed in 1996) to outlaw federal budget deficits, bind the government to a debt reduction schedule and require future tax increases to be subjected to a national referendum.
"These measures reflect the demands of Canadians for real and immediate tax relief," said CTF federal director Walter Robinson. "The deficit battle was fought and won on the backs of taxpayers, they deserve a victory parade of tax cuts."
The CTF's proposes spending reductions in non-priority program areas, accelerated privatization efforts and disposal of surplus government holdings to allow for tax reductions. The CTF will not base its proposals on the basis of budget surpluses, currently at $10.4 billion for the first six months of the 1998 fiscal year.
"Most of this $10.4 billion is due to unacceptably high EI premiums. This money should be returned to Canadian workers and employers," stated Robinson. "With $10 billion in his hip pocket, Paul Martin has to realize that he can't cry wolf any longer, the village of taxpayers has caught on to his game of cooking the books."
The CTF's 35-page submission also includes research that reveals:
- The 1998 federal tax cuts were wiped out by bracket creep and CPP premium hikes;
- $1.2 trillion in unfunded liabilities in health care; and
- The federal government's debt reduction shell game.