Saskatchewan Provincial Budget

The 2014 Saskatchewan provincial budget was delivered on March 6. The budget was the seventh consecutive balanced budget in the province. 

Decreased revenue from potash was offset by an increased transfer from the province’s Growth and Financial Security Fund so no tax increases were required to offset increased expenditures which included increased benefits for seniors, the disabled and their caregivers.

Dividend Tax Credit

The only income tax change announced for 2014 was a change to the Saskatchewan dividend tax credit rate for small business dividends which was required to offset the change to the gross-up rate announced in the 2013 federal budget. See the results in the article on small business dividends in this issue.

Consequential Tax Changes

Like most provinces, provincial tax brackets and most provincial personal amounts are indexed in Saskatchewan. The indexation factor for 2014 is 1.009 (i.e. an increase of 0.9%). This factor increases the basic personal amount, for example, to $15,378; this is the highest basic personal amount for any province except Alberta where the amount is $17,787.