Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member is correct to an extent on the impact of the tax initiatives that have come before this Assembly, this being the second of three tax measures we, as a government, have identified in my budget address as well as in our revenue picture that we put forward to the committee. The payroll tax, which just got first reading today, does change more, depending on your income. Again, it would be using a certain amount of income and we could come up with examples. The way the tax is calculated, it's a progressive system. Each bracket is taxed at a certain level and then you get up to the next level and it hits the next bracket and then the higher ones. The two lowest tax brackets will drop and will impact on how much tax they're actually paying. There will be a drop in some of the tax, that is the percentage of tax, because of our progressive system. So there will be a reduction, and the majority of people who will benefit from this will be in the $66,000 figure and less. They will benefit through an increase to the cost of living tax credit, as well as a drop in the two lower brackets. But on this bill, the two higher brackets that we're moving upwards, there's going to be a certain affect. Some of the work we're doing now is to the actual net impact that happens after all the tax initiatives are put in place on personal income tax. So we have started that work and we have some estimates now on different categories. Again, this is sort of going beyond the scope of this bill, but since they're put out as a package and explained to Members that in fact the net impact that residents will feel, the higher tax brackets once the next bill comes into effect will actually drop down. So there will be some offset as a result of the payroll tax which drops the two lowest tax brackets. The highest levels won't negate the total increase, but it will drop back down a little bit again. Thank you.
Floyd Roland on Committee Motion 15-15(3): To Amend Clause 2 Of Bill 2, Defeated
In the Legislative Assembly on March 30th, 2004. See this statement in context.
Committee Motion 15-15(3): To Amend Clause 2 Of Bill 2, Defeated
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
March 29th, 2004
Page 491
See context to find out what was said next.