The provincial budget was recently tabled on March 22, 2017. SaskInteractive has attempted to highlight impacts to the members, their business and the industry at large.

The Saskatchewan Advantage: 

As part of a major restructuring of Saskatchewan’s tax system, the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate will be reduced by a half point in 2017 and by a further half point in 2019. When fully implemented, the Saskatchewan government states it will have the lowest corporate tax rate and the lowest tax rate on manufacturing and processing in the country, giving Saskatchewan a tremendous advantage to attract new business investment and jobs to our province.

Other business incentives in the 2017-18 Budget include:

Saskatchewan Commercial Innovation Incentive (SCII)

The provincial government is fulfilling its promise to introduce North America’s first “innovation patent box” incentive. Designed to support the commercialization of new and transformative innovations, the SCII is open to a broad range of different types of intellectual property and will help to position companies to take full advantage of their wealth of creative, world-leading research and development.

• The first of its kind in North America, this incentive will position Saskatchewan as a world-class destination for companies looking to bring new innovations to market.
• This program offers a six per cent provincial Corporate Income Tax (CIT) rate to companies commercializing qualifying intellectual property in Saskatchewan for 10 years, and for 15 years if the majority of the related research and development was conducted in the province.

Saskatchewan Research and Development Tax Credit

This tax credit has long been an important tool in assisting technology start-ups and small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) as they work toward the commercialization of their Research and Development efforts.

• The Saskatchewan Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit is being reformed to make it more responsive to the needs of the province’s technology start-ups and SMEs.
• A new refundable 10 per cent R&D Tax Credit is being introduced in respect of the first $1.0 million in annual qualifying expenditures incurred in Saskatchewan by an eligible small business.
• The existing 10 per cent non-refundable R&D Tax Credit remains in place, but to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the program, the total of refundable and non-refundable R&D Tax Credits that may be claimed by a corporation will be limited to $1.0 million per year.

Other impacts as a Business

An increase in provincial sales tax from 5% to 6% and removal of some pst exemptions effective March 23, 2017 (and April 1^st on some services) LINK

The 2017-18 plan includes nearly $80.0 million for capital which supports government programs, including information technology management infrastructure. LINK

Effective July 1, 2017, the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) of 6 per cent will apply to all insurance as defined in The Saskatchewan Insurance Act and includes insurance for vehicles registered under The Automobile Accident Insurance Act. PST will apply where the insured person or business is a resident of Saskatchewan or on the premiums paid in respect to property located in Saskatchewan. LINK

Effective April 1, 2017, the commission allowance for the collection and remittance of Provincial Sales Tax, Liquor Consumption Tax and Tobacco Tax is eliminated LINK

There appear to be no changes to suppliers of Computer Hardware, Software and Computer Services other than the pst increase. LINK 

For more information and detail regarding the budget http://finance.gov.sk.ca/budget2017-18