2019 New Brunswick budget: Tax highlights
March 21, 2019
Issue 2019-10
In brief
On March 19, 2019, New Brunswick’s Minister of Finance, Ernie Steeves, presented the province’s budget. The budget does not change corporate or personal income tax rates, but does:
- announce that the province will not parallel the federal measure that phases out the small business deduction limit for private corporations that earn passive investment income exceeding $50,000
- reintroduce the New Brunswick tuition tax credit
This Tax Insights discusses the tax initiatives proposed in the budget.
In detail
Business tax measures
Corporate income tax rates
New Brunswick’s corporate income tax rates will remain as shown in the table below. The table also shows combined federal/New Brunswick corporate tax rates.
Federal and New Brunswick corporate rates |
New Brunswick |
Federal + New Brunswick |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2018 |
2019 - 2020 |
2018 |
2019 - 2020 |
|
General and M&P income |
14% |
29% |
|||
Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs)
|
active business income to $500,000 |
2.62% (1) |
2.5% |
12.62% |
11.5% (2) |
investment income |
14% |
52.67% |
|||
1. New Brunswick’s small business tax rate decreased from 3% to 2.5% on April 1, 2018.
2. The combined rate reflects the decline in the federal small business tax rate from 10% to 9% on January 1, 2019
Passive investment income and the small business deduction (SBD) limit
New Brunswick will not parallel the 2018 federal budget measure that phases out the $500,000 SBD limit for Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs) that earn between $50,000 and $150,000 of passive investment income in a taxation year, for taxation years beginning after 2018. By not paralleling the federal measure, a CCPC could continue to save up to $57,500 in New Brunswick tax annually.
Personal tax measures
Personal income tax rates
The budget does not change New Brunswick personal income tax rates. Top combined federal/New Brunswick personal income tax rates are shown below. These rates apply to individuals with taxable incomes above $210,371 in 2019 ($205,842 in 2018).
| Top combined federal/New Brunswick rates | 2018 |
2019 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Ordinary income & interest |
53.30% |
||
Capital gains |
26.65% |
||
Canadian dividends |
eligible |
33.51% |
|
non-eligible |
46.88% |
47.75% (1) |
|
1. The combined non-eligible dividend tax rate reflects the decline in the federal and New Brunswick non‑eligible dividend tax credit rates (which results from decreases to the federal and New Brunswick small business tax rates, as noted above).
Tuition tax credit
The budget proposes to reintroduce the province’s tuition tax credit. Individuals will be able to claim this personal income tax credit when they file their annual tax return in 2020.
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