Higher marks on taxes and students, but low grades on for housing affordability and consumer rights
Before grading the federal budget’s effect on your personal finances, let’s first acknowledge what a tough assignment the government had on its hands.
The maximum rebate for an eligible household of two parents and two kids would be $467, which is equivalent to a bit less than $9 per week. Milk and an on-sale box of cereal, in other words. Single people without kids will get a rebate of up to $234, while seniors get $225 on average. Modest help at best, but well-targeted to those who need it and unlikely to stoke inflation.Nothing in the budget directly addresses the fact that houses remain unaffordable for the middle-class in many cities.
The key tax announcement in the budget fleshes out a previously announced intention to modernize the alternative minimum tax, designed to make sure wealthy people don’t use deductions and credits to pay nearly nothing in taxes. The AMT tax rate would rise to 20.5 per cent from 15 per cent, with an estimated $173,000 exemption for the 2024 tax year. Taxpayers pay the AMT or regular tax, whichever is the larger amount.
The new Registered Education Savings Plan rule would allow $8,000 in investment earnings and government grant money to be withdrawn from an RESP in the first 13 weeks of enrollment in a full-time program, up from $5,000. This money is called an education assistance payment and it’s considered separately from money contributed to the RESP.Some good ideas here, but a low mark for making only vague promises about actual policy.
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