Neck guard sales jump after Sask. hockey player slashed by skate
21h ago
More adult players are now investing in the protective equipment.
The provincial government was aiming to have at least some of its affordability measures felt on paycheques early in 2025, but that timing came into question on Tuesday afternoon.
The Sask. Party introduced and passed its Affordability Act in the shortened fall sitting, with the consent of the Opposition NDP, in order to get the changes in place.
Read more:
- Provincial deficit more than doubled from Q1
- More details after woman allegedly defrauds social services of $48K
- Sask. NDP seeks stronger conflict-of-interest laws after Grewal case
The changes included a handful of income tax reductions which Finance Minister Jim Reiter said he wanted to be in place in January.
“We want to get this done as quickly as we can. Obviously, that was big campaign commitment for us, and people want affordability, and we’d like to deliver on that,” said Reiter last week.
Because the federal government collects Saskatchewan’s income taxes and then remits them back, any such changes need their cooperation.
Reiter sent letters to the federal finance minister and minister responsible for the Canada Revenue Agency and asked for the changes to be fast-tracked. Reiter said the federal government had shown tax changes could be made quickly with its own GST cut from Dec. 14, so he hoped it could be done for Saskatchewan.
However, on Tuesday afternoon, the federal Department of Finance said it needed more time.
“In order for the Canada Revenue Agency to notify employers, employees, and update their IT systems accordingly, the Government of Canada would have had to have been made aware of changes to Saskatchewan’s tax system no later than Oct. 15,” read the department’s statement.
The letter from Reiter was sent much later, so the federal government said it made things “slightly more complicated”.
The statement said the federal government would continue to work with the provincial government.
The changes in the Affordability Act include increasing the personal exemption, the spousal exemption, the child exemption and senior supplement over the next four years. The bill would also index the income tax brackets and tax credits to keep up with inflation.
Read more: