By Canadian Press

Re-elected Liberals would still run big deficits, despite new taxes

Sep 29, 2019 | 11:12 AM

OTTAWA — The Liberals are promising that a re-elected Justin Trudeau government would impose new taxes on the wealthy, large international corporations, foreign housing speculators and tech giants to help cover the cost of billions in new spending and a tax break for the middle class.

Even so, the Liberal platform released today projects another four years of deficits — $27.4 billion next year, falling to $21 billion by the fourth year of the mandate.

However, it promises that Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio, already one of the most favourable among industrialized countries, will continue to decrease.

A re-elected Liberal government would impose an additional 10 per cent excise tax on luxury cars, boats and personal aircraft with price tags of more than $100,000.

Tech giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook with global revenues of at least $1 billion a year would face a three per cent tax on revenue generated by the sale of online advertising and users’ personal data.

no snow

Chances of a white Christmas for Nanaimo 'quite remote'

4h ago

vehicle damage

Over 40 vehicles damaged during late-night Nanaimo vandalism spree

11h ago

rising costs

RDN taxpayers want relief as board grapples with budget

15h ago

Non-resident foreigners who own vacant property in cities like Vancouver and Toronto, where speculation is a concern, will also face a national tax.

And the Liberals would crack down on tax loopholes that they say allow large corporations to excessively deduct debt to artificially reduce the amount of taxes they pay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2019.

The Canadian Press