NB 854
June 28, 2006
FREDERICTON (CNB) - Small businesses in New Brunswick will continue to pay the lowest income taxes in the country when the rate decreases to 1.5 per cent on July 1, Finance Minister Jeannot Volpé has announced. As well, the income threshold will increase from $450,000 to $475,000, making it the highest in the country.
"This initiative is the second phase of a three-year relief plan that was announced in the 2005-06 budget to support New Brunswick small businesses," Volpé said. "This plan is expected to save small businesses an estimated $12 million annually, providing them with additional resources to invest and create jobs in the province."
The final phase of this three-year plan will be implemented on July 1, 2007, when the provincial small-business corporate-income-tax rate will be reduced to one per cent. The income threshold will increase to $500,000.
"The provincial government has made significant progress over the last years in creating a competitive edge for businesses in New Brunswick," Volpé said. "Government remains committed to maintaining this crucial edge in order to make New Brunswick the investment province, one of the goals in Premier Bernard Lord's Five in Five Initiative."
The province will also lower the general corporate-income-tax rate - which was 17 per cent in 1999 - from 13 to 12 per cent effective Jan. 1, 2007. This will provide an estimated $11 million in savings to New Brunswick businesses. It is the third-lowest rate in the country after Alberta and Quebec.
The large-corporation capital tax will be reduced to 0.25 per cent in 2006, to 0.2 per cent in 2007, 0.1 per cent in 2008, and eliminated in 2009.
06/06/28
MEDIA CONTACT: Vicky Deschênes, communications, Finance, 506-453-2451.
06/06/28