(Montreal) The Parti Québécois (PQ) is proposing a one-time refundable tax credit of $ 700 to help seniors 65 and over earning $ 35,000 or less per year before taxes “get through these tough times.”
The PQ hopes that the Caquist government of François Legault adds this measure to its mini-budget on November 25, explained the spokesperson for Finance, MP Martin Ouellet, in a telephone interview.
He estimates that the measure would affect more than one million people, or more than half of Quebec seniors, for a total cost of $ 716 million.
“The deficit is not as high as it should be according to the forecasts” of the 2021-2022 budget, said Mr. Ouellet, who wants to use these savings to finance the tax credit.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, ARCHIVES THE PRESS
PQ MP Martin Ouellet
The Legault government will announce its new deficit estimate during the November 25 economic review.
Poverty and inflation
“It can make a huge difference on the bills of groceries, electricity, rent and gasoline,” pleaded Mr. Ouellet.
Women are also at a disadvantage, since most of them have less savings and have had maternity leave, and often it is they who drop out of the workplace more quickly to take care of relatives.
Martin Ouellet, Finance spokesperson
Seniors “are the first to experience situations of poverty since their incomes are fixed”, he added. “There aren’t many, pension plans that are indexed to inflation; Once I have my RRSPs that are already taken, I only have my fixed income with the pension fund, so each increase in inflation has a direct influence on the next few months. ”
The Bank of Canada calculated a rise in the consumer price index of 4.4% in September, the last month on record. The institution normally seeks to keep the inflation of the Canadian dollar between 1 and 3% annually.
According to the most recent figures from Statistics Canada, in 2019, 5% of Quebecers aged 65 or over, or 81,000 people, lived below the official poverty line.
The Market Basket Measure, used for this calculation, determines the amount needed to meet the most minimal needs.
This threshold corresponds, for a single person, to an annual net income of between $ 18,902 and $ 20,080, depending on where they live, according to 2018 data.
Think long term
The tax credit desired by the PQ would only be distributed once, since it would be part of the budget adjustment.
“Obviously, in the next budget, we would like to see the credits already provided for seniors to be increased to cope with inflation,” said Mr. Ouellet.
The said budget will be tabled next March. It will be the last before the 2022 provincial election.
For November 25, François Legault had already said he wanted to “put money back in the pockets of Quebecers” to “face this huge increase in the cost of living”.
With information from Michel Saba
This article has been produced with the financial support of the Facebook and The Canadian Press News Scholarships.