A Helping Hand±for Alberta
T h e M a t r i x
Few b.c. families will benefit from the feds' new income-splitting rules
march 2015 BCBusiness 21 illustrations: sabrina smelKo; sources: ipsos reiD, 2013; statistics canaDa, 2014; the broaDbent institute
T
he feds have finally
implemented their
long-awaited promise
to introduce income splitting
for couples with children. It
applies to the 2014 tax year,
but odds are, it doesn't apply to
you. That's because a majority
of child-raising British Columbi-
ans don't qualify.
The rule permits higher-
earning spouses to assign
$50,000 of their income to
partners, taxing that income at
a lower rate and saving them up
to $2,000. In short, it benefits
families with a primary bread-
winner—with the exception of
single parents. The problem, as
the figures below show, is that
this break, estimated to cost
$2 billion in lost tax revenue,
appears to benefit wealthier
regions the most. High earners,
after all, have more tax to lose,
and thus the most to gain.
—Trevor Melanson
% of families with
children who will
receive NO benefit
*
% of single-
parent families
(none qualify)
Average
income for
single-parent
families in
Canada
$49,700
B.C.
$94,460
Median Family
Income (2012)
*
according to
the Broadbent
Institute
$74,890
$70,480
$71,660
44.1%
53.3%
53.8%
61.1%
14.5%
16.7%
15.3%
16.6%
Quebec
Alberta
Ontario
