CFIB provincial affairs director Elliot Sims says in the long-term they would like the HE Levy phased out completely, but in the interim they want the exemption level raised and the tax indexed to inflation.

 

"CFIB is calling on the provincial government to raise the small business exemption level for the Manitoba payroll tax by $250,000 to $1.5-million. That will compensate for all of the inflation increases that have happened over the last seven years. And then we're also asking the government to index it to inflation hereafter to ensure that we don't have to have these bumps every seven years."

 

Finance minister Greg Dewar says all tax measures are reviewed every year and didn't rule out the possibility of the threshold being raised.

 

"It's possible, but as I said right now we've concentrated on providing tax cuts for families. That's why we've increased the property tax credit for seniors, we brought in a caregivers tax credit, we increased that, we brought in a tax credit for volunteer search-and-rescue (and) firefighters, and we're trying to make life affordable for all Manitobans."