Premier Smith weighs in on promised tax cut

The start of a new year has renewed inquiries about when Albertans can expect the UCP to deliver on its promised tax cut.

During the 2023 Alberta general election, Premier Danelle Smith said she would implement a tax cut if re-elected.

“This means every Albertan earning $60,000 or more will save $760 – that’s over $1,500 per family! Albertans earning less than $60,000 will see a full 20 per cent reduction to their provincial tax bill under this tax cut,” the UCP's website stated. 

"These tax cuts will provide meaningful, timely tax relief to Albertans at a time when they need it most."

However on her radio show on Saturday, Smith said that tax break was delayed in 2024 because of the instability of oil and gas prices.

She referenced that last year's balanced budget was based on oil and gas pegged at $74 a barrel, which she says slipped to $67.

As a result, a tax cut will have to wait a while.

“We believe we need to run a balanced budget," Smith said. "We need to pay for the priorities Albertans care about - healthcare, education, social services and we want to maintain the lowest tax environment that we can have.”

The result of those lower prices, she said, is the need “to make some trade-offs -- and we don’t have clarity at this precise moment about what prices are going to do.”

Smith plans on providing an update on the status of promised tax cut when the budget is tabled in February. She added that oil and gas prices look to be on the rise. 

Trevor Harrison, a retired sociology professor at the University of Lethbridge describes the promise of a tax cut to be “tried and true in Alberta politics.”

“It’s always easy to promise tax breaks especially during elections, or leading up to and I think that’s the course,” said Harrison. “The other tried and true thing is also to say, well , maybe the books are a little more rocky than we thought.”

“Albertans hate deficits and hate debts and the price of oil is so volatile and so if you think of it, that’s basically what the premier has said in defence of this.”

 

He doesn’t think her not fulfilling the promise will have much have an impact. He thinks it will get done or be teased during the next campaign.

 

“I think, is that some amount of a tax break will come about magically in 2027.”