April 1, 2021
Province Announces More Tax Relief to Protect Manitobans
– – –Budget 2021 will Complete Commitments of the $2,020 Tax Rollback Guarantee: Pallister
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The Manitoba government is moving forward with commitments to reduce taxes and make life more affordable for Manitobans as part of Budget 2021, Premier Brian Pallister announced today.
“Given the challenges created by the pandemic, Manitobans need more tax relief sooner rather than later, and Budget 2021 will continue to protect your hard-earned incomes to help you care for your families and invest in your communities,” said Pallister. “We are delivering our commitments of the $2,020 Tax Rollback Guarantee one year ahead of schedule and our government remains committed to making life more affordable, more secure and more prosperous for all Manitobans.”
Budget 2021 will continue to implement the $2,020 Tax Rollback Guarantee, introduced in 2019 to save the average Manitoba taxpayer $2,020 over four years through several measures:
• reducing the provincial sales tax (PST) to seven per cent from eight;
• indexing the Basic Personal Amount and Personal Income Tax brackets;
• removing the PST on property insurance;
• removing the PST on personal income tax preparation;
• eliminating probate fees;
• removing the PST on the preparation of wills;
• reducing vehicle registration fees by 30 per cent;
• removing the PST on personal care services, such as haircuts and salon services; and
• reducing education property taxes.
The province has previously implemented most of these commitments and will introduce the final two measures as part of Budget 2021 to remove the PST on personal services later this year and begin to phase out the education property tax.
The October 2020 speech from the throne renewed the promise to eliminate the education property tax over several years, beginning in 2021, which will eventually remove both the Provincial Education Support Levy and the School Division Special Levy from annual property tax bills.
Today, the premier confirmed Manitoba ratepayers will begin to receive rebate cheques this year.
“Our government is keeping our promise to relieve property owners of this burden and leave more money on the kitchen tables of Manitobans, where it’s needed most,” said Pallister. “Manitoba is the only Canadian jurisdiction that determines school taxes at the local level, which creates an uneven playing field across the province. As we phase out the education property tax, we will ensure a more equitable system is in place to fund Manitoba’s education system and support students.”
As previously announced, school divisions will freeze their education property taxes this year and the province will provide a Property Tax Offset Grant equivalent to a two per cent property tax increase or $22.8 million in 2021 to maintain education funding levels. In addition, Budget 2021 will support the Better Education Starts Today strategy with an Education Funding Guarantee of no less than $1.6 billion of additional investment in education over four years.
The education property tax reduction will benefit approximately 658,000 residential, farm, commercial and other properties in Manitoba. The province will provide more information on the education property tax rebate as part of Budget 2021 and with municipal property tax bills.
Pallister said the province will continue to review provincial taxation measures to ensure individual Manitobans and businesses can keep more of their hard-earned dollars, and noted the government has already returned more than $700 million in tax and COVID-19 relief to Manitobans since 2016.
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