Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Issue 23
SERVING THE ENERGY CITY SINCE 1903
www.estevanmercury.ca
Mailing No. 10769 | Publication No. 40069240
Business tax changes explored at meeting By David Willberg dwillberg@estevanmercury.ca
More than 70 local entrepreneurs and others in the community filled the Days Inn’s Taylorton Room on Oct. 4 to learn more about how the potential impact of the proposed small business tax changes brought forward by the federal government. Josh Shankowsky and Scott Assman from MNP offered in-depth explanations of the changes and how they could affect businesses, and answered questions from the audience. “Since these new rules came out, I can’t believe the interest in what they’re going to be impacting,” said Shankowsky. “I hear questions every day on them.” Each day he hears something different through articles in the media, posts on social media and in other avenues. Some articles state it will only impact the top one per cent of wealthy small businesses. But other articles claim the changes will have a broader reach. The legislation is in
different stages right now, but all of the laws are still in the proposed stages. Normally when new tax laws such as these are brought forward, they are part of the federal budget. But these changes were not revealed until a few months after the budget was released. “There’s a point here that these are the most significant tax changes in 45 years,” said Shankowsky. He noted the federal government also allowed just 75 days to provide comment on the changes. The consultation period ended on Oct. 2. “The government has said they’re going to take that feedback and put it down, so we’ll see what happens with the new rules,” said Shankowsky. The first proposed change deals with income splitting. Corporations can share income with family members through dividend payments, allowing those corporations to drop to a lower tax bracket. “Structures like these were set up so there might be
an active spouse in the business,” said Shankowsky. This is the starting point of what the federal government didn’t like in the small business tax laws. “Their comment was that this is not fair that business owners and small business owners and employees get this,” said Shankowsky. MNP counters that one of the biggest dangers associated with changing this is it doesn’t impact just the entrepreneurs in the highest tax brackets. For those in lower income brackets, they might be affected. “A small business owner risks everything,” said Shankowsky. “They don’t get the benefits of EI. All their capital is at risk. What happens if there’s an economic downturn? They have to save for that. So they’re fundamentally different.” It’s not just income splitting with spouses that the government has targeted. It’s also income splitting with children, particularly those who aren’t involved with the business. The government has
said the sprinkling would still be allowed if it is “reasonable” compensation to family members for actual contributions to the business. Shankowsky expects that the rules regarding income splitting will apply starting in 2018, and will be fairly close to the way they were proposed. He hopes the government will ease up on income splitting with spouses, but he doubts anything will happen for income splitting with children. “I can kind of understand their point,” he said. He suggested that business owners pay out a little more this year to take advantage of the current tax brackets. The second component of the legislation deals with capital gains exemptions. Assman said some in the room might have used it in the past. He said a qualifying gain would be $1 million for a farm property or $830,000 for a small business, and that’s indexed to inflation. “They want you to be
Twinning project remains on schedule The twinning project for Highway 39 from Estevan to an area south of Bienfait remains on track to be completed this year. Steve Shaheen, a senior communications consultant with the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure, said the construction is on schedule. Work has started to remove the existing overpass between Estevan and the junction with Highways 39 and 18. The overpass was used to accommodate traffic for the coal haul road, which ran beneath the overpass. Traffic is being diverted onto new lanes near the overpass while the overpass is being removed. The newly realigned junction of Highways 18 and 39 opened in August, but there is work that remains in the vicinity of the junction. “Right now a short detour with signals remains in place for the work on Highway 18,” said Shaheen. The junction is expected to be finished by the end of the month as well. “The contractor has completed paving on most of the project. All grading work has been completed, except for the existing overpass,” he said. “The coal mine finished their new haul road and coal trucks are using it to access nearby coal deposits for the area’s power plant by safely driving underneath the highway.” He said there were some issues
Highway 39 between Estevan and Bienfait remains closed so that the overpass above the old coal haul road can be demolished. with people needing time to adjust to the new alignments, the new junction and the detours. Additional signage was put up, and traffic seems to be flowing well. Shaheen admits that it is still a tight timeframe to have everything completed by the end of the year. Some tidying up will need to happen next year, but that shouldn’t prevent motorists from using the new lanes this year. “There are different levels of what completion is,” said Shaheen. “For the motorists, and that’s what we look at, once it’s open to traffic, that’s what we consider complete. But again, the contractor might
have to come back next year to do some cleanup, and that might take several weeks, or a month or two.” If the Estevan area experiences a lot of rain in the final weeks of October, then that could keep motorists from using the double lanes next year. The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure has also been working on maintenance on Highway 47 between Estevan and the U.S. border. Maintenance crews were recently out on the highway to repair some slumps, and to apply a seal to the highway. Some additional patching could A2 » SOME
Josh Shankowsky from MNP explained how the small business tax changes proposed by the federal government could impact local businesses. actively involved in the business to take advantage of it,” said Assman. If there was some good news in the information released this summer, it’s the presence of transitional relief, Assman said. “Transitional relief will be a one-time election in the 2018 calendar year,” said Assman. “It’s going to
be available for individuals and family trusts if they want to crystallize a capital gain that would be eligible for the capital gains exemption.” But there are rules to qualify for a farm property, he said, including shrinking the 24-month test to a 12-month test since it only A2 » CHANGES
Three arrested in drug bust Three people have been arrested, and a significant amount of drugs have been seized, following a drug bust in southeast Saskatchewan this past weekend. Members of the Estevan RCMP conducted a traffic stop Friday on Highway 18 near Frobisher on a vehicle suspected of being involved in a dangerous driving incident. As a result of the investigation, 38 grams of cocaine were seized, and two women were arrested. One of the women was later found to be hiding a small amount of crystal methamphetamine in part of her body. Further investigation led police to a rural property near Frobisher. A search warrant was executed on Saturday at the property. As a result of the search, more than one kilogram of crystal methamphetamine, 300 grams of a cocaine-based substance, and a .22-calibre assault-style rifle were seized. One man was also arrested. The cocaine seized is valued at $34,000, while the crystal methamphetamine has a value of $140,000. As a result of the investigation, Marion Ellson, a 51-yearold woman from Regina, has been charged with one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, one count of possession of a firearm while prohibited from doing so, and one count of careless storage of a firearm. All three charges are under the Criminal Code. She is also facing two counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Neil Goertzen, a 60-year-old man from Regina, was charged with one count of possession of a firearm without a licence and one count of careless storage of a firearm under the Criminal Code, and one count of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. A 35-year-old woman from Regina has charges pending. One is for possession of a controlled substance under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. She is also facing two counts of failure to comply with release conditions under the Criminal Code. Her name was not immediately available because she hadn’t been formally charged as of Mercury press time. The subjects made their first court appearance on Oct. 10. They will be back in court on Oct. 12.
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