SIMS: Budget is balanced, but Albertans still need their income-tax cut

Whew, that was a close one. The Alberta budget is balanced, that’s the good news. Spending is restrained and cash is being stashed for the future.But the bad news is that our income tax reduction is nowhere to be found, the fuel tax is getting hiked and there’s a new tax on buying a house.First, the good news.Finance Minister Nate Horner presented the province’s 2024/25 budget with a $367 million surplus.That’s million, with an M. In a voluptuous budget weighing in at about $73 billion, that surplus is as slim as Twiggy dancing in her go-go boots.Spending is reined-in to a polite trot, with an increase of 3.9%, which is under the rate of inflation plus population growth.Premier Danielle Smith created this inflation-plus-population-growth spending cap last year, citing the need for fiscal discipline over time.During the budget presentation, the government reported it has plunked $3.2 billion down on the debt and deposited $2 billion into the Heritage Fund. This is good news and compared to our neighbour in BC, with an inexplicable $7.9 billion deficit, Alberta is doing well.But, and this but is so big it could star in Sir Mix-a-Lot’s next rap video, where is our income tax cut?Harken, dear reader, to the 2023 election, when the UCP promised “tax cuts for all Albertans.” They promised to create an 8% tax bracket for the first $60,000 of earnings, which would save Alberta workers about $760 each per year.“That’s over $1,500 per family!” the UCP campaign website reads.So, where is it?The government now says the lower income tax bracket will happen in 2026 and start at 9%. The 8% tax bracket will show up in 2027.You can’t say you’re going to “cut taxes for all Albertans” then delay an income tax cut, reinstate the fuel tax and create a new home-buying tax.You read that right, the fuel tax is going back up April 1.Quietly noted on page 129 of the budget, the government will hike the provincial fuel tax back up to 13 cents per litre of gasoline and diesel.Starting in April 2022, the Alberta government reduced fuel taxes.In 2023, the government fully suspended the fuel tax for a year.On January 1, 2024, the tax went back up to nine cents per litre. On April 1, 2024, the government plans to put it all the way back up to 13 cents per litre.Alberta drivers are going to get punched in the wallet twice on April 1, because that’s the same day Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jacks up his favourite carbon tax to 17 cents per litre of gas and 21 cents per litre of diesel.This isn’t lower taxes. This is higher taxes.The government is also replacing land titles taxes with a new Land Titles Registration Fee, also known as a land transfer tax. A home valued at $450,000 will now have a $955 land transfer tax cost. The province is planning on taking in about $45 million from home sales this fiscal year, 2024-25 and $91 million next year.Creating a new tax is like bringing a baby alligator into your house. At first, it’s small, but then it grows into a big monster and starts mauling. Albertans must get rid of this new tax that’s slithered into their kitchens.And is a new home tax what Albertans need? Families are literally leaving mortgage renewal letters unopened for weeks because they’re too scared to see what’s inside. And, instead of helping with housing affordability, the Alberta government is hitting them with a new tax. That’s Ottawa-level tone deafness.It’s good to balance the budget, albeit on the point of a needle, but Albertans deserve lower taxes, not higher ones.Kris Sims is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

SIMS: Budget is balanced, but Albertans still need their income-tax cut

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