Saskatchewan: 2020 budget

Saskatchewan Finance Minister Donna Harpauer presented the province’s 2020-2021 Budget on March 18, 2020. This included the spending estimates for the year, but not the revenue forecasts, which will be updated later in 2020 once the fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is better known. Several new tax measures were announced in the Budget, which are summarized below.

Later this year, the government will table The Income Tax Amendment Act, 2020 to introduce the re-indexation of Saskatchewan’s Personal Income Tax system to the national rate of inflation beginning with the 2021 taxation year, introduce a new investment incentive for the fertilizer sector, extend the Manufacturing and Processing Exporter Tax Incentive for an additional three years, and make technical clarifications to The Income Tax Act, 2000.

The Provincial Sales Tax Amendment Act, 2020 will be introduced to enact initiatives to ensure out-of-province e-commerce platforms collect and remit provincial sales tax (“PST”). This bill will also contain related amendments to The Revenue and Financial Services Act to maintain consistency with the PST legislative changes. The government announced a PST rebate for new home construction of up to 42% of the PST paid on a new house contract up to $350,000, excluding the land, for new homes purchased after March 31, 2020, and before April 1, 2023.

Last, the government will introduce the Oil Infrastructure Investment Program, a SaskFirst new growth tax incentive administered by the Ministry of Energy and Resources, to support new and expanded pipelines and new pipeline terminals.