The Honourable Ted Menzies, Minister of State (Finance), today met with the owners and employees of Jimmy’s Coffee on Baldwin Street in Toronto to highlight the vital role that small businesses like theirs play in supporting the economy and job creation, and how the Harper Government’s Economic Action Plan will help them grow and succeed.
“Comprising 98 per cent of all employer businesses in Canada, small businesses are a significant driver of economic growth, and an important pillar supporting workers, families and communities from coast to coast to coast,” said Minister Menzies. “Clearly, when our small businesses succeed, all Canadians succeed.”
“Taking action on issues that affect the bottom line of Canadian small businesses is important to help them grow their business and, in turn, help grow the economy,” said Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) President and CEO Dan Kelly. “Extending and expanding the Employment Insurance Hiring Credit, as well as enhancing the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption, are two measures that CFIB recommended and will be welcomed by many small firms across Canada.”
Economic Action Plan 2013 proposed a number of key measures to support small businesses including:
- Extending and expanding the temporary Hiring Credit for Small Business for one year. This temporary credit would provide up to $1,000 against a small firm’s increase in its 2013 Employment Insurance premiums over those paid in 2012 to employers with premiums of $15,000 or less in 2012. In all, an estimated 560,000 small businesses will benefit from this measure, allowing them to reinvest approximately $225 million in 2013.
- Increasing the Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption to $800,000 from $750,000 in 2014, and indexing it going forward. The Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption increases the rewards of investing in small businesses and makes it easier for owners to transfer their family businesses to the next generation of Canadians.
These new measures build on the significant actions taken by the Harper Government since 2006 to support small businesses:
- Reducing the small business tax rate to 11 per cent from 12 per cent.
- Increasing the small business limit to $500,000 from $300,000.
- Reducing the red tape burden on small businesses, including allowing business owners to go paperless when dealing with the Canada Revenue Agency.
- Introducing a Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry to help small business owners when dealing with credit card companies.
“As a small business trying to grow and succeed, these gestures of confidence and encouragement from the Government go a long way,” said Jimmy’s manager Heather Jane. “We at Jimmy’s will be looking forward to the benefits that the extension and expansion of the Hiring Credit can bring to us.”
“For a small business with $500,000 of taxable income, our Government's cut in the small business tax rate and increases in the small business limit have, on their own, lowered the federal corporate tax bill by over 34 per cent—leaving an additional $28,600 that can be reinvested in the business,” said Minister Menzies. “These low-tax measures translate into more jobs and stronger growth for Canadians, which is what our Economic Action Plan is all about.”
