2021 Federal Election: Proposed Tax Policies of Canada's Major Parties

With the 2021 Federal Election coming up soon, we wanted to share some of the major parties’ proposed tax policies.

Below you’ll find a quick summary of the potential new taxes, tax deductions, and tax credits being proposed by each of the major parties.

Liberal Party of Canada

Create a minimum tax rule so that everyone who earns enough to qualify for the top bracket pays at least 15 % each year removing their ability to artificially pay no tax through excessive use of deductions and credits
Raise the corporate income tax rate by three percentage points from 15 per cent to 18 per cent on all bank and insurance earnings over $1 billion
Canada recovery dividend which would force these same financial institutions to “contribute more over the next four years of Canada’s recovery
Require landlords to disclose, on their tax filing, the rent they receive pre- and post-renovation, and implement a proportional surtax if the increase in rent is excessive.
Establish an anti-flipping tax on residential properties, requiring properties to be held for at least 12 months
New provisions in the Income Tax Act for digital platforms to pay associated contributions of CPP & EI
Implement a tax on luxury cars, boats, and planes as outlined in Budget 2021.
National tax on vaping products and require tobacco manufacturers to pay for the cost of federal public health investments in tobacco control
Eliminate flow through shares for oil, gas, and coal projects to help promote clean growth and Canada’s transition to a net-zero economy

Home appliance repairs 15% tax credit up to $500 performed by technicians
Double the Home Accessibility Tax Credit from $10,000 to $20,000
Expand the Canada Caregiver Credit into a refundable, tax-free benefit
Offer health care professionals, who are just starting out in their careers, a one-time income tax deduction of up to $15,000 over their first 3 years of practice to help with the costs of setting up a practice
Labour Mobility Tax Credit to allow workers in the building and construction trades to deduct up to $4,000 in eligible travel and temporary relocation expenses giving them a tax credit of up to $600 a year
Introduce a Career Extension Tax Credit to help seniors who want to stay in the workforce, stay in the workforce. Seniors over 65 who earn a minimum of $5,000 at their jobs will be able to eliminate tax payable on a portion of their income and receive a tax credit of up to $1,650.
Small business tax credit – 25% of eligible ventilation improvement expenses of up to $10,000 per building location, with a maximum of $50,000 per company

Making foreign tech companies pay their fair share of taxes, including sales tax and a digital services tax representing 3% of the gross revenue in Canada if they don’t pay corporate income tax in Canada
Studying the potential for introducing new taxes on frequent flyers, non-electric luxury vehicles and luxury second homes to deter activities that hurt the environment

Double the Canada Workers Benefit up to a maximum of $2,800 for individuals or $5,000 for families and pay it as a quarterly direct deposit rather than a tax refund at year-end
Introduce a Construction Mobility Tax Credit to help with expenses construction workers incur when they temporarily relocate for work. The construction mobility tax credit will allow workers to subtract up to $4,000 per year of temporary relocation expenses (moving, temporary lodging) from taxable income
Amending the Home Accessibility Tax Credit by increasing the limit from $10,000 per dwelling to $10,000 per person.
Allowing seniors or their caregivers, including their children, to claim the Medical Expense Tax Credit for home care instead of only allowing them to claim attendant care if they live in a group home
Double the disability supplement from $713 to $1,500
Implement a month-long GST holiday this fall. All purchases made at retail stores will be tax free for this month

Introduce a temporary COVID-19 excess profit tax that puts an additional 15% tax on large corporate windfall profits during the pandemic. Go after large corporations that took publicly-funded COVID-19 wage subsidies and turned around and paid out executive bonuses, executed stock buy-backs or paid shareholder dividends
Increase the capital gains inclusion rate to 75 percent
Boost the top marginal tax rate two points
Put in place a luxury goods tax on things like yachts and private jets
Wealth tax if wealth over $10 million
Increase corporate income tax by three percentage points
Increase taxes on Internet giants

Canada Caregiver Tax Credit refundable
Income tax averaging for artists and cultural workers
Expand the Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit
New tax credit for graduates to work in designated rural and Northern communities