By Niall Harney
Previously published in the Brandon Sun and The Winnipeg Free Press, March 23, 2023
The 2023 Manitoba Budget released on March 7 announced close almost $1 billion in revenue cuts. Despite claims about affordability for low and middle-income households, most Manitoba families will not receive anything near the tax savings promoted by the province. Make no mistake, these tax cuts are a giveaway to the rich that will reduce our capacity to fund public services for years.
Resources and ways you can support and act to fight income inequality and for social justice
- Follow and support the MMIWGTS+ Implementation Committee
- Follow and support MIGRANTE
- Follow and support Disability Matters
- Follow and support the work of Make Poverty History Manitoba’s provincial election campaign and next City of Winnipeg four-year budget campaign.
- Follow and support the work of Right to Housing coalition’s provincial election campaign.
- Make the Minimum wage a Living wage
- Paid sick days now – Manitoba Federation of Labour
- Tell Canada to tax excess profits – Canadians for Tax Fairness
- Follow and support Climate Action Team Manitoba
- Follow & support Health Care for All Manitoba
- For local research and analysis please sign up for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Manitoba weekly roundup at www.policyalternatives.ca (at bottom of page) or see www.policyfix.ca
- Follow & support working building a more inclusive, fair economy with the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (click Manitoba!)
- Support Sustainable Building Manitoba’s campaign for code adoption – homes and buildings need to be energy efficient to be truly affordable
- Claim: “Budget 2023 removes 47,400 low-income Manitobans from the tax rolls and saves the average family $1,000”
Impact: More of the Basic Personal Amount tax change money will go to Manitoba’s richest 10% than the bottom 50% combined.
The poorest 10% (100,100 Manitobans) get no benefit from this change as they don’t make enough to be on the tax rolls currently.
The second-poorest 10% (990,900 Manitobans) saves only $74 by the increase in the Basic Personal Amount.
The richest 10% save $1,322 on average from the increase in the Basic Personal Amount and the increases to the tax brackets. The increased spending due to these tax cuts could drive up prices and inflation.
Source: More of Budget 2023 tax changes go to Manitoba’s richest 10% than the bottom 50% combined
By Thomas Linner
Manitoba health care is at a crossroads. From emergency care to home care, the entire system is at a breaking point caused by Pallister-era decisions to close emergency rooms and privatize services. Instead of stepping up to fix these problems, Premier Stefanson has carried on the same agenda of cuts and privatization.
By Zach Fleisher
As the old adage goes, budgets are not only a financial blueprint for a government’s plan but also demonstrate their choices and values.
By Kirsten Bernas and Shauna MacKinnon
By Kyle Ross, MGEU President
The Stefanson government’s full-on privatization of provincial liquor sales went into overdrive last week with the introduction of Bill 30.
Statistical analysis of the Manitoba Government Budget 2023 changes to the Basic Personal Amount (BPA) and income tax brackets find the top 10% are slated to get 26% of the total tax savings, equivalent to an average tax cut of $1,322 for everyone in the top decile in 2024. The average savings of all tax filers will be $502 a person while the average savings for the bottom 20% of tax filers will be $37 a person.
Budget 2023 changes the Basic Personal Amount, the income exempt from provincial tax. In 2023, the Basic Personal Amount in Manitoba is set at $10,855. Budget 2023 raises this to $15,000. Income tax thresholds are shifted in Budget 2023, with the first bracket ending at $47,000 and the highest bracket beginning at $100,000 in 2024.
Using Statistics Canada’s tax modelling software SPSDM 29.0, which considers this change in relation to all tax credits and benefits, a better breakdown of these changes is possible by income. CCPA Economist David Macdonald finds the top 10% of filers (making over $101,274) will avoid on average $1,322 in taxes in 2024. The value of the tax cuts for this group will be $132 million in 2024 or 26% of all benefits, despite only representing 10% of the population. On the other hand, the bottom half of Manitobans (making under $43,000) will receive only 24% of the benefit.
The poorest 20% of Manitobans will receive only 2% of the total benefit because they already have enough tax credits and can’t use more.
“The tax changes announced in Budget 2023 give disproportionate benefits to high-income earners, particularly dual-income households, who have the disposable income to absorb costs of living increases,” says Niall Harney, Senior Economist and Errol Black Chair in Labour Issues. “The Province should be helping low and middle-income households without gifting hundreds of millions of dollars to the richest among us.”
Table 1: Taxes avoided by taxable income (2024)
Source: SPSD/M 29.0 and author’s calculations
Notes: includes the impact of both the Basic Personal Amount and tax bracket changes in 2024 vs the baseline in 2024 of nothing having been changed.
For Immediate Release (Winnipeg, Treaty One Territory): We are disappointed to see the provincial government prioritize large tax cuts in its 2023/24 budget at a moment when our provincial health care system and other social services are struggling to keep up with demand.
The 2023/24 budget commits to $949 million in tax cuts, including $326 million to raise the Basic Personal Amount, $160 million to raise income tax thresholds, and $453 million on education property tax rebates.
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