NDP Will Tax Multimillionaires to Fund Health Care

HAMILTON – Today, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is meeting with Canadians struggling with cuts to important services they rely on and the growing cost of health care expenses. Singh is proposing a tax on those with fortunes above $20 million to make sure hardworking Canadians get the services they need like pharmacare and head-to-toe health care.

“New Democrats have the courage to make different choices. Unlike the Liberals and Conservatives who work for their rich and powerful friends, we will help people who are struggling to get by,” said Singh. “Our plan is simple – we can afford to help people when we have the courage to ask the super-rich to pay a little bit more to fund the services we all rely on.”

For years, Liberals and Conservatives have been helping their corporate friends and the very richest to avoid taxes and hide billions offshore every year. New Democrats will bring in a tax on the multimillionaires alongside tougher enforcement to stop tax evasion both in Canada, and off-shore.

“Families shouldn’t have to worry about their future. They deserve a government that is actually on their side. Canadians deserve prescription drugs covered by Medicare, and expanded health care services to cover people head-to-toe – and we can do this when the very richest pay their fair share,” concluded Singh.

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Facts:

• The NDP’s super-wealth tax would apply a 1% tax on fortunes above $20 million.
• This will be applied annually and include real estate, luxury items and investments.
• This tax will apply to only the very wealthiest one tenth of one percent of Canadian households.
• Over ten years, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates that this tax will raise almost $70 billion, starting with $5.6 billion in 2020-21 and growing to $9.5 billion by 2028-29.
• It will be paired with boosted enforcement against tax evasion and penalties for millionaires who try to evade paying taxes, including regular CRA audits and third-party valuation of assets.
• In June 2019, the Parliamentary Budget Officer found that Canada is losing up to $25 billion in tax revenues to overseas tax evasion by multinational corporations.