2020 N.S. Provincial Budget tax changes

On February 25, 2020, the government announced proposed changes to the provincial tax laws.

Income taxes

Personal tax

No personal income tax rate changes were announced in this year’s budget. The current personal income tax rates for 2020 are outlined below:

Corporate tax

The general corporate income tax rate will be reduced by two percentage points, from 16 per cent to 14 per cent, effective April 1, 2020. In addition, the small business rate will be reduced by one-half percentage point, from 3.0 per cent to 2.5 per cent, on April 1, 2020, as well.

The corporate income tax rates effective as of April 1, 2020, are outlined below:

Other tax measures

Vaping product tax

Effective September 15, 2020, the province will introduce a vaping product tax on vaping substances and vaping devices. Vaping substances will be taxed at the rate of $0.50 per millilitre, while vaping devices and components will be taxed at a rate of 20 per cent of their suggested retail selling price.

Effective July 1, 2020, all retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers will be required to be licensed to sell their products in Nova Scotia.

Tobacco tax

Effective February 26, 2020, there will be a two cent increase on cigarettes to 29.52 from 27.52 and cigars will increase by 15 percent to 75% of suggested retail price from 60%. Fine cut and other forms of tobacco will also see an increase to 40 cents per gram (previously 26 cents per gram for fine cut and 18.52 cents per gram for other forms of tobacco).

Digital media and digital animation tax credits

The tax credits were set to expire December 21, 2020, and June 30, 2020, respectively. Both credits have been extended for a further five years to expire December 31, 2025.