Released on December 29, 2016
All Saskatchewan income tax brackets and tax credit amounts will once again be indexed in 2017, saving taxpayers an estimated $9.0 million. The level of indexation in 2017 will be 1.4 per cent, matching the national rate of inflation.“Indexation helps keep taxes in Saskatchewan low by protecting Saskatchewan people from ‘bracket creep’,” Finance Minister Kevin Doherty said. “Our government is committed to keeping Saskatchewan’s tax system fair and competitive, and yearly indexation is part of an array of measures aimed at accomplishing just that.”
Individual taxpayers now pay no Saskatchewan income tax on their first $19,490 of income while a family of four pays no Saskatchewan income tax on their first $50,495 of income—the highest tax-free income threshold for a family of four in Canada. A family of four with $50,000 annual income, and deducting $3,000 in child care expenses, has seen their provincial income tax cut by 100 per cent since 2008—from about $2,300 to zero provincial income tax in 2017.
“Our government's various reductions to personal income taxes since 2008 will save Saskatchewan people more than $490 million in 2017, and have resulted in about 112,000 low-income Saskatchewan residents being removed from the income tax rolls entirely,” Doherty said. “Over the period of 2008-2017, these personal income tax reductions will have provided a Saskatchewan family of four earning $50,000 in income with total income tax savings amounting to more than $23,000.”
Measures to reduce personal income taxes in Saskatchewan since 2008 include:
- Increasing personal, spousal, and child exemption amounts and introducing a new Low Income Tax Credit in 2008;
- Raising personal, spousal, and child exemption amounts again in 2011; and
- Introducing a new First-Time Homebuyers' Tax Credit in 2012.
-30-
For more information, contact:
Brian Miller
Finance
Regina
Phone: 306-787-6605
Email: brian.miller@gov.sk.ca