2004 Canadian federal budget

Last updated

2004 (2004) Budget of the Canadian Federal Government
New Agenda for Achievement
Logo of the 2004 Canadian federal budget.jpg
PresentedMarch 23, 2004
PassedNot Passed
Parliament 37th
Party Liberal
Finance minister Ralph Goodale
Total revenue C$211.9 billion [1]
Total expendituresC$210.5 billion [1]
Program SpendingC$176.4 billion [1]
Debt paymentC$34.1 billion [1]
SurplusC$1.5 billion [1]
DebtC$494.7 billion [1]
Website Budget Plan 2004
Surplus was used to pay down the federal debt.
  2003
2005  

The Canadian federal budget of 2004 was a budget for the Government of Canada. It was read in the House of Commons of Canada on March 23, 2004, by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale of the governing Liberal Party. It was prepared by Goodale with significant input from Prime Minister Paul Martin, who had previously served as Minister of Finance in the government of Jean Chrétien.

Contents

The budget contained few surprises: most major initiatives had been announced long beforehand. These included $2 billion for health care, money for municipalities, and $1 billion to help livestock farmers harmed by the Mad Cow crisis. Government spending was set to increase at the same rate as Gross domestic product (GDP) over the next few years with any surplus going to pay down the national debt.

Taxes

Personal income taxes

Corporate income taxes

Expenditures

Reactions

Opposition parties

The budget was criticized by the Conservative Party for its lack of tax cuts and its increases in spending. The New Democratic Party criticized the policy of debt reduction, arguing that social spending, especially on health care, would be more beneficial.

Legislative process

Before the budget could be passed, parliament was dissolved for the 2004 election. The budget legislation was appended to the 2005 budget that was passed the next year.

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Department of Finance Canada (March 19, 2007). "Aspire to a Stronger, Safer, Better Canada" (PDF). 2007 Budget. Department of Finance Canada. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 12, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
  1. p. 329
  2. p. 328
  3. p. 369-371
  4. p. 367
  5. p. 329
  6. p. 331
  7. p. 334
  8. p. 336

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax Reform Act of 1986</span> US federal tax legislation

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA) was passed by the 99th United States Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on October 22, 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Progressive tax</span> Form of tax

A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term progressive refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the person's marginal tax rate. The term can be applied to individual taxes or to a tax system as a whole. Progressive taxes are imposed in an attempt to reduce the tax incidence of people with a lower ability to pay, as such taxes shift the incidence increasingly to those with a higher ability-to-pay. The opposite of a progressive tax is a regressive tax, such as a sales tax, where the poor pay a larger proportion of their income compared to the rich.

A tax cut represents a decrease in the amount of money taken from taxpayers to go towards government revenue. Tax cuts decrease the revenue of the government and increase the disposable income of taxpayers. Tax cuts usually refer to reductions in the percentage of tax paid on income, goods and services. As they leave consumers with more disposable income, tax cuts are an example of an expansionary fiscal policy. Tax cuts also include reduction in tax in other ways, such as tax credit, deductions and loopholes.

An income trust is an investment that may hold equities, debt instruments, royalty interests or real properties. It is especially useful for financial requirements of institutional investors such as pension funds, and for investors such as retired individuals seeking yield. The main attraction of income trusts, in addition to certain tax preferences for some investors, is their stated goal of paying out consistent cash flows for investors, which is especially attractive when cash yields on bonds are low. Many investors are attracted by the fact that income trusts are not allowed to make forays into unrelated businesses; if a trust is in the oil and gas business, it cannot buy casinos or motion picture studios.

The 2005 Canadian federal budget was the budget of the Government of Canada for the 2005–2006 fiscal year. It was presented on February 23, 2005, by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale. It was the first Canadian federal budget presented by a minority government since the budget of the Joe Clark Progressive Conservative government in 1979, which was defeated by the opposition parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993</span>

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 was a federal law that was enacted by the 103rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 10, 1993. It has also been unofficially referred to as the Deficit Reduction Act of 1993. Part XIII of the law is also called the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993.

The Canadian federal budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on January 27, 2009. The federal budget included $20 billion in personal income tax cuts as well as major investments in infrastructure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006</span> US law

The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, includes a package of tax extenders, provisions affecting health savings accounts and other provisions in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1993 Canadian federal budget</span>

The 1993 Canadian budget was a Canadian federal budget for the Government of Canada presented by Minister of Finance Don Mazankowski in the House of Commons of Canada on 26 April 1993. It was the fifth budget after the 1988 Canadian federal election and would be the last before the 1993 Canadian federal election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012</span> Federal law in the United States changing taxation, "ATRA".

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) was enacted and passed by the United States Congress on January 1, 2013, and was signed into law by US President Barack Obama the next day. ATRA gave permanence to the lower rates of much of the "Bush tax cuts".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Canadian federal budget</span>

The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 2015–2016 was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Joe Oliver on 21 April 2015. This was the last budget before the 2015 federal election. The budget was supposed to be presented in February or March before the fiscal year began on April 1, but was delayed because of the steep drop in oil prices in the winter of 2014–15. A surplus of $1.4 billion was projected for the fiscal year 2015-2016, however this was adjusted by the new government to a deficit of $1.0 billion by end of March 2016. This was later adjusted to $2.9 billion after reflecting a change requested by the Auditor General dating back 10 years' worth of federal budgets, specifically with regards to the discount rate methodology used to determine the present value of the Government's unfunded pension obligations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax Cuts and Jobs Act</span> U.S. federal tax legislation

The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law  115–97 (text)(PDF), is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), that amended the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Major elements of the changes include reducing tax rates for businesses and individuals, increasing the standard deduction and family tax credits, eliminating personal exemptions and making it less beneficial to itemize deductions, limiting deductions for state and local income taxes and property taxes, further limiting the mortgage interest deduction, reducing the alternative minimum tax for individuals and eliminating it for corporations, doubling the estate tax exemption, and reducing the penalty for violating the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to $0.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1989 Canadian federal budget</span>

The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 1989–1990 was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by finance minister Michael Wilson on 27 April 1989. It was the first budget after the 1988 Canadian federal election.

The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 1988–1989 was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by finance minister Michael Wilson on 10 February 1988. It was the fourth budget after the 1984 Canadian federal election and would be the last before the 1988 Canadian federal election.

The 1992 Canadian budget was a Canadian federal budget for the Government of Canada presented by Minister of Finance Don Mazankowski in the House of Commons of Canada on 25 February 1992. It was the fourth budget after the 1988 Canadian federal election. It is the first budget presented by Don Mazankowski.

The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 1997-1998 was presented by Minister of Finance Paul Martin in the House of Commons of Canada on 18 February 1997. It is the last budget of the 35th Canadian Parliament and the last budget before the 1997 Canadian federal election. The budget's unofficial subtitle is Building the Future for Canadians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1991 Canadian federal budget</span>

The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 1991-1992 was presented by Minister of Finance Michael Wilson in the House of Commons of Canada on 26 February 1991.

The 1985 Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 1985-1986 was presented by Minister of Finance Michael Wilson in the House of Commons of Canada on 23 May 1985. This is the first federal budget under the premiership of Brian Mulroney, and generally increased taxes.

The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 1978–1979 presented by Minister of Finance Jean Chrétien in the House of Commons of Canada on 10 April 1978. It is the fifth budget of the 30th Parliament and the first presented by Jean Chrétien.

Corporate taxes in Canada are regulated at the federal level by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). As of January 1, 2019 the "net tax rate after the general tax reduction" is fifteen per cent. The net tax rate for Canadian-controlled private corporations that claim the small business deduction, is nine per cent.