Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland walk holding the 2023-24 budget, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 28, 2023. REUTERS/Patrick Doyle/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
OTTAWA, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Following are some of the commitments the Canadian government made in its Fall Economic Statement released on Tuesday.
*invest an additional C$15 billion in new loan funding, starting in 2025-26, for the Apartment Construction Loan Program, for a total of more than C$40 billion in loan funding. This investment will support more than 30,000 additional new homes, bringing the contribution to more than 101,000 new homes supported by 2031-32.
*invest an additional C$1 billion over three years, starting in 2025-26, for the Affordable Housing Fund. This investment will support non-profit, co-op, and public housing providers to build more than 7,000 new homes by 2028.
*help remove barriers to internal labor mobility, including by leveraging federal transfers, and other funding, to encourage provinces and territories to cut the red tape that impedes the movement of workers, particularly in construction, health care and child care
*deny income tax deductions for expenses incurred to earn short-term rental income, including interest expenses, in provinces and municipalities that have prohibited short-term rentals. It will also deny income tax deductions when short-term rental operators are not compliant with the applicable provincial or municipal licensing, permitting, or registration requirements.
*propose to spend C$50 million over three years, starting in 2024-25, to support municipal enforcement of restrictions on short-term rentals.
*introduce a new Canadian Mortgage Charter, which outlines how financial institutions are to work to provide tailored relief and ensure payments are reasonable for borrowers.
*the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will conduct a prompt investigation of international mobile roaming charges, and will provide an update and concrete next steps in 2024.
*work with the Canadian Transportation Agency to ensure that airlines seat all children under the age of 14 next to their accompanying adult at no extra cost
*explore removing the rule that restricts Canadian pension funds from holding more than 30% of the voting shares of most corporations. It also proposes to require large federally-regulated pension plans to disclose the distribution of their investments, both by jurisdiction and asset-type per jurisdiction, to the Office of the Superintendent ofFinancial Institutions
*begin buying up to C$30 billion of Canada Mortgage Bonds, starting as early as February 2024
(Reporting by Steve Scherer and David Ljunggren)
(steve.scherer@thomsonreuters.com; +1-647-480-7889)
Keywords: CANADA BUDGET/FACTBOX
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People walk along the beach on the Suffolk coast as the Sizewell B nuclear power station can be seen on the horizon, near Southwold, Britain, January 31, 2019. REUTERS/Russell Boyce Acquire Licensing Rights
LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Britain on Monday opened the search for private investment in the Sizewell C nuclear project, inviting potential investors to register their interest.
The building of the plant by French energy giant EDF in southeast England, capable of producing around 3.2 gigawatts of electricity or enough to power around 6 million homes, was approved in July 2022.
“The government, the Sizewell C Company and EDF, the project’s lead developer, are looking for companies with substantial experience in the delivery of major infrastructure projects,” a statement from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said.
The British government announced last year that it would support Sizewell C with around 700 million pounds ($895 million) while taking a 50% stake during its development phase.
“The launch of the formal equity raise opens another exciting phase for the project, following a positive response from investors during market testing,” said Sizewell C Company Joint Managing Director, Julia Pyke.
Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, writing by William James
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TOKYO, Dec 16 (Reuters) – Japan will extend tax breaks on low-emission cars and seek to shift its massive household savings into investment in the government’s annual tax code revision to be approved on Friday.
The government will also raise corporate, income and tobacco taxes to pay for a scheduled doubling of Japan’s defence spending to 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2027 – a response to an increasingly assertive China and North Korea’s missile launches.
Below are key changes under the revised tax code, according to a draft of the document obtained by Reuters. The revised code will take effect in the next fiscal year beginning in April 2023, upon approval by parliament.
AUTOMOBILE TAX
Japan will extend tax breaks on low-emission cars past the end of 2023, while increasing the required level of emissions reduction for eligible vehicles in several stages from 2024. The revision, to remain in place until April 2026, will cover half of all new automobiles.
The government will also exclude gasoline-powered cars beginning in 2025 from tax cuts that were granted to the automobile sector to help it overcome supply constraints.
‘NEW CAPITALISM’
Under his flagship “new capitalism” initiative aimed at redistributing income, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has sought to shift Japan’s 2,000 trillion yen ($14.52 trillion) in household assets away from savings and into investment.
As part of this initiative, the government will make permanent a programme that offers tax breaks for households’ stock investments. Specifically, it will triple the limit on investments eligible for tax breaks from 2024.
CAPITAL GAINS TAX
The capital gains tax rate is uniform across income brackets in Japan, unlike the income tax, which is progressive.
As part of efforts to narrow income disparities, the government will apply higher capital gains tax rates for households with annual income above 3 billion yen.
START-UPS
Kishida’s administration has stressed the need to nurture more start-ups that could give a boost to Japan’s anaemic economic growth.
The government will expand preferential tax breaks for retail investors when they buy and sell stocks in start-up firms.
Profits from the sale of start-up shares will be exempt from income tax if they are reinvested in other venture businesses.
($1 = 137.7800 yen)
Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Edmund Klamann
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