The Ontario government is giving municipalities the flexibility to provide property tax relief to small businesses.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Ontario’s economy, but many have been suffering through the pandemic and struggling to stay on their feet,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “Our municipal partners came to us with an idea to provide more support for small businesses through property tax relief, and in our fall budget, we delivered.”
The initiative is part of the 2020 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover. It builds on the initiative to lower Business Education Tax (BET) for over 200,000 employers in the province starting Jan. 1, 2021, which will create $450 million in annual savings.
To better understand how these savings will work, the following example was provided at today’s announcement at Khorak Supermarket in North York. A business like Khorak Supermarket could receive $5,000 in municipal tax relief and $4,000 in provincial tax relief. Combined with a $1,500 BET reduction, a small business owner could save a total of $10,5000 in property tax in 2021.
The government is also acting to reduce taxes on jobs by making permanent the Employer Health Tax exemption increase which was initiated in March. It will also offer a grant of up to $1,000 to help Main Street businesses purchase PPE. More information about savings for small businesses can be found here: ontario.ca/smallbusiness.
More info:
Original news release
Press conference video
Ontario’s 2020 Budget
