March 14, 2023 – Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce: Today, the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce released its priorities to all political parties. Its recommendations focus on reduced personal taxes for workers, and strategies to deal with the ongoing labour shortage in the province.
Within the recommendations is a call on the government to reduce the personal tax amount on the Island’s lowest income earners. PEI currently taxes its lowest-income earners at the highest rate in Atlantic Canada.
Additionally, every province, besides PEI and Nova Scotia, currently indexes income tax to the rate of inflation. This means pay raises that only keep up with the cost of living bump taxpayers into a higher bracket, and the government is taking more of their wages, resulting in very little to no real increase in take home income.
“This is why we need to not only increase wages. Governments need to do their part in making sure Islanders have a livable income,” commented Bill DeBlois, President of the Greater Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce.
“This means reducing the amount of personal taxes charged and letting Islanders keep more of the wages they earn in their pockets.”
Read the full news release here