Federal Fall Economic Statement – 2018

FALL ECONOMIC STATEMENT HIGHLIGHTS

On Wednesday, November 21, 2018 the Honourable Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance, tabled the 2018 Fall Economic Statement – Investing in Middle Class Jobs.

This was a highly anticipated speech, as many Canadians were looking for a response to promote Canada’s competitiveness. At this point in time, limited new tax measures are introduced; the highlights are detailed below:

Income Tax Rates

No changes were announced to personal or corporate income tax rates or thresholds.

Full Expensing for Manufacturing and Processing Machinery and Equipment and Clean Energy Equipment

The Fall Statement announced that machinery and equipment used in Canada for the manufacturing and processing of goods, as well as specified clean energy equipment, will be eligible for immediate expensing. Qualifying assets acquired on or after November 21, 2018 will be eligible for a full tax write-off in the year it is put in use in the business. The half-year rule will be suspended for property that is eligible for this measure.

These proposals will be gradually phased out starting in 2024 and will no longer be in effect for investments put in use after 2027.

Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) Measures

The government introduced an Accelerated Investment Incentive to allow businesses in Canada to deduct the cost of their investments more quickly, thus increasing the attractiveness of making capital investments. The Accelerated Investment Incentive will provide an enhanced first-year allowance for most capital property that is subject to the CCA rules.

The Accelerated Investment Incentive will generally be calculated by applying the prescribed CCA rate for a class to one-and-a-half times the net addition to the class for the year (or three times the normal first-year allowance when subject to the half-year rule). The larger deduction in the first year will be offset by smaller deductions in respect of the property in future years.

The Accelerated Investment Incentive will be available for eligible property that is acquired after November 20, 2018 and which becomes available for use before 2028, subject to a phase-out for property that becomes available for use after 2023.

Illustrative Impact of Proposed Measures on Selected Assets, Deduction in the First Year*

* reproduced from the Fall Economic Statement, Department of Finance

Other Measures

• A new refundable tax credit for qualifying news organizations was introduced and will be effective January 1, 2019. The credit will support labour costs associated with producing original news content and will generally be available to both non-profit and for-profit news organizations.
• A new temporary non-refundable tax credit for qualifying subscribers of Canadian eligible digital news media was also introduced. Details on the 15 percent tax credit will be provided in Budget 2019.
• The Mineral Exploration Tax Credit, scheduled to expire March 31, 2019, has been extended for an additional five years, until March 31, 2024.

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