There were signs of accelerated economic growth in the second half of the year from recovering oil prices and government fiscal support from the $22-billion child benefit program that flowed through into higher GST revenues. He barely mentioned that economic growth had surged at an annual rate of 4.5 per cent in the second quarter. The report revealed that personal income tax revenues dipped by $1.2 billion in 2016-17, reflecting the impact of the introduction of the 33-per-cent top income tax rate in 2016. What is clear is that the government increased the top rate of income tax and realized less revenue. As the new financial report revealed, it actually reduced income tax revenue by more than $1 billion.

Source: National Post September 19, 2017 22:41 UTC