FREDERICTON (GNB) – The provincial government today introduced legislative amendments to the New Brunswick Income Tax Act that would further reduce provincial personal income taxes, benefitting more than 200,000 taxpayers.

Finance and Treasury Board Minister Ernie Steeves said the legislation builds upon the government’s commitment to reduce taxes as the fiscal situation allows and builds upon tax reductions introduced in 2021 and in 2022.

“With the province’s improved finances, we are in a position to further lower taxes for New Brunswickers,” said Steeves. “These reductions are going to help our competitiveness and will help stimulate economic growth.”

The following provincial personal income tax rate reductions will apply for 2023 and subsequent taxation years:

  • Tax rate on the second income bracket – reduced from 14.82 per cent to 14 per cent.
  • Tax rate on the third income bracket – reduced from 16.52 per cent to 16 per cent.
  • Eliminating the fourth income bracket and taxing this group at the same rate as the third income bracket – from 17.84 per cent to 16 per cent.
  • Tax rate on highest income bracket – reduced from 20.3 per cent to 19.5 per cent.

These proposed reductions would provide an estimated $70 million of benefit on a full-year basis.

Based on the latest tax data available, the average benefit from these reductions is estimated to be about $310. Actual taxpayer savings will only be determined once 2023 personal income tax returns are filed in 2024.

“These reductions will complement existing measures within the provincial personal income tax system that our government has implemented to protect lower-income New Brunswickers,” said Steeves.

As previously announced, for the 2021 taxation year, the provincial personal income tax rate on the first tax bracket was reduced to 9.4 per cent from 9.68 per cent and the Low-Income Tax Reduction (LITR) threshold increased to $17,840 from $17,630.

For the 2022 taxation year, the government increased the basic personal amount to $11,720 from $10,817, and further enhanced the Low-Income Tax Reduction threshold to $19,177 from $18,268.

Combined, these previous measures will provide an estimated $68 million in personal income tax relief, benefitting over 400,000 taxpayers.

01-11-22