Pierre Poilievre opposes capital gains hike, promises new tax cut

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will vote against the government’s proposal to raise the capital gains tax inclusion rate, ending weeks of speculation about where he would land on the issue.

The vote on the capital gains measure, set to take place later Tuesday, is still expected to pass easily with the support of the New Democratic Party voting alongside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.

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But Poilievre’s statement ends debate over whether the leader — currently the favourite to win an expected election in 2025 — would vote in favour of the measure. Poilievre has promised to advocate for workers and not the business establishment, and repeatedly declined to say where he stood on the tax hike until Tuesday.

In his statement, Poilievre also promised that if he were elected, he would create a new tax cut that would reduce “the share of taxes paid by the poor and middle class while cutting tax-funded corporate welfare and cracking down on overseas tax havens.”

The statement did not provide any further details on what taxes Poilievre would cut, and did not explicitly pledge to reverse the capital gains hike.

Starting June 25, the government will tax Canadian companies on two-thirds of capital gains, up from half currently. The change will also apply to individual taxpayers with annual gains over $250,000.

Capital gains taxes don’t apply to the sale of a person’s primary residence. The rules also include exemptions or reductions for owners of certain small businesses, farms and fishing operations.

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Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland have attempted to frame the capital gains hike, first announced in their April budget, as a tax on the wealthy in order to fund policies for housing construction and school food programs.

In his statement, Poilievre declared the capital gains raise a “job-killing tax” that will “drive billions of dollars of machines, technology, business and paychecks out of our country.”

Instead of promising to repeal the tax if he’s elected, however, Poilievre said he would create a “tax reform task force” made up of “entrepreneurs, inventors, farmers and workers.”

The task force would recommend how to “lower taxes on work, hiring and making stuff,” Poilievre said, and simplify existing tax rules.

Tuesday’s vote is on a motion that will enshrine the main parts of the hike in the capital gains inclusion rate. Over the summer, the Department of Finance will release draft legislation that will address other parts of the government’s policy, such as the entrepreneur’s incentive, and a final version of the bill will likely be introduced in Parliament in September.

Bloomberg.com

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