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Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall hits pause on planned corporate tax

REGINA — Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says the government will pause a corporate tax cut outlined in the provincial budget in March.

REGINA — Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says the government will pause a corporate tax cut outlined in the provincial budget in March.

The government said in the budget that the corporate tax rate would go from 12 per cent to 11.5 per cent at the start of July, and then down another half point to 11 per cent on July 1, 2019.

But Wall says the phased-in cut is no longer necessary to stay competitive with other western provinces.

He says that’s because the new British Columbia government has signalled it will increase its corporate income tax rate.

The premier says the speech from the throne to start the new session of the legislative on Wednesday will refer to the corporate tax cut not being reduced.

He says the government might look at doing something to help small businesses instead, such as changing the $500,000 limit at which small businesses have to start paying the higher corporate rate.

“If we were to contemplate some changes to the threshold, we could be able to say to the country that we’ve got the best threshold, the best small business tax structure from that perspective in Canada and I think that’s also an advantage that we would want to pursue to keep our economy strong,” Wall said at the legislature in Regina.

Wall’s government first announced plans to lower the incorporated business tax rate from 12 to 10 per cent by 2015 in their growth plan unveiled in 2012.

However, the idea was first delayed in 2013 as the province faced falling revenue and a tighter budget.