The blueprint

The results of the review committee on corporate taxes in Saskatchewan are in:

(T)he committee recommends the province:
- Eliminate (the) corporation capital tax (CCT) (of .6%)...
- Reduce the general corporation income tax (CIT) rate from 17 to 12 per cent...
- Increase the small business limit to $500,000 by 2008...

Vicq believes the province can afford the business tax cuts, estimated at $180 million annually in 2009-10, which includes the recovery of $45 million a year in tax "leakage" to other jurisdictions.

The NDP government deserves plenty of credit for taking a measured approach to the cuts, rather than following the Sask Party angle of cutting taxes first and hoping the money could be made up for later. But the committee's recommendations do make sense in the long term, particularly since they come at a reasonable cost. Hopefully Vicq's recommendations will find their way into the next budget alongside the NDP's other priorities.