WINNIPEG - Appearing before the Manitoba Lower Tax Commission today, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) called on the province to make fundamental changes to the province's tax system in order to cut taxes and create jobs.

The CTF's tax reform report entitled Quantum Leap: Recommendations for Profound Personal Income Tax Relief and Reform advocates a completely new tax system based on a "single tax" model independent of the federal system. "We want to create a system that is fairer and simpler than the one that exists now," said Federation director Mitchel Gray. "What we're proposing would also give the province a lot more flexibility to set its own tax policy course without federal control or interference."

The main recommendations of the Federation are that:

the Manitoba provincial government should lower personal income taxes and press the federal government to lower income taxes as well;

the province should reform the income tax system by replacing the tax on tax system with a tax on income model;

the province should replace the current tax brackets with a flatter single rate of provincial income tax calculated at a rate that would not anticipate greater income tax returns than at present. The new rate should be competitive with the 11% rate recently set by Alberta, and fully indexed to inflation;

with greater provincial control in calculating income taxes, the province should not move to collect its own taxes or issue income tax forms separate from the federal government. The province should not introduce any new tax credits to Manitoba's income tax system;

the 2% flat tax and the 2% surtax should be eliminated regardless of whether the province moves to a tax on income system; and,

barring any major reform to the income tax system, the province should lower the individual base income tax rate from 47% to 42% in 2000/2001.

"Our proposals would reduce taxes for all taxpayers, drop thousands of low income Manitobans from the tax rolls, and increase the purchasing power of Manitobans, all the while maintaining the principle of progressivity," said Gray. "The Province needs to act on these ideas if it wants to restore fairness and simplicity in the tax system.