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Saskatchewan reduces tax rates, renews emergency payments and announces recovery rebates

December 10, 2020  By Government of Saskatchewan



Updated Dec 22: Details on the Strong Recovery Adaptation Rebate have been added.

Saskatchewan has rolled out a number of financial tools to help businesses weather through and recover from COVID.

Lower taxes

Legislation to reduce the tax rate for Saskatchewan small businesses over the next three years was introduced this week, making good on a commitment made by the government in the recent election.

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Under this initiative, Saskatchewan’s small business corporate income tax rate dropped from two per cent to zero effective Oct. 1. Beginning July 1, 2022, the small business tax rate will move to one per cent. And on July 1, 2023, the small business tax rate will return to two per cent. The amount which small businesses can earn at the small business tax rate will remain at $600,000 — the highest threshold in Canada.

These tax reductions will benefit about 31,000 incorporated Saskatchewan small businesses, saving them more than $189 million in provincial taxes over the next three years — for an average savings of more than $6,100 per Saskatchewan small business.

Strong Recovery Adaptation Rebate (SRAR)

The new Strong Recovery Adaptation Rebate (SRAR) was also rolled this week. The program will assist businesses as they adapt their business models to address the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rebate will assist businesses who have adapted to different business models, such as changing the use of square footage, installing physical infrastructure to comply with COVID-19 mitigation guidelines, and upgrading technology, such as websites, to enhance their business.

The program is for Saskatchewan businesses that employ less than 100 people, have or will incur expenses to adapt their business model between April 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021, plan to continue operating, and have experienced at least a 30 per cent revenue decline compared to 2019.

Eligible applicants will receive a rebate of 50 per cent up to a maximum of $5,000 for a $10,000 expenditure, with amounts being determined based on business expenditures for changing business models to adapt to the current environment brought about due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The SRAR program will be launched and applications will be available in the coming weeks. For more information, including COVID-19 support for businesses and workers in Saskatchewan, you can go to their website, www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-businesses.

Update (Dec 22): This rebate program will assist small businesses by reimbursing the incremental investments they have made to adapt their business models as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Adaptations could include changing the use of square footage, installing physical infrastructure to comply with COVID-19 mitigation guidelines, and upgrading technology such as websites to enhance an e-commerce platform for their business.

The SRAR is available to Saskatchewan businesses that employ less than 100 people, plan to continue operating, and have experienced at least a 30 per cent revenue decline compared to 2019.  Eligible applicants will receive a reimbursement of 50 per cent of eligible expenditures up to a maximum of $5,000 for a $10,000 expenditure.  Business adaptation expenditures must have been spent between April 1, 2020, and February 28, 2021, and total a minimum of $300 to qualify.

Applications due March 31, 2021.

Saskatchewan Small Business Emergency Payment (SSBEP)

The Saskatchewan Small Business Emergency Payment (SSBEP) program has been renewed for the period of December 1 to December 31.  Through this program, small businesses closed or significantly curtailed due to a public health order will be eligible for provincial support.

Applications for the SSBEP will open on December 7, 2020 and the application deadline for this eligibility period is January 31, 2021.

Eligible applicants will receive a payment of 15 per cent of their monthly sales revenue, to a maximum of $5,000, based on the greater of November 2019, December 2019, or February 2020 sales revenue.  For seasonal businesses, the funding support will be 15 per cent of the average monthly sales revenue for full months that the business operated in 2019.

Eligible applicants must attest that they:

  • are a small or medium business (0-499 employees);
  • maintain a permanent establishment in Saskatchewan and allocate a portion of their income to Saskatchewan;
  • were operating October 31, 2020, or eligible to operate, in the case of seasonal business;
  • are subject to a public health order that requires them to temporarily suspend or substantially curtail their operations during the eligibility period December 1 to December 31, 2020;
  • have experienced a loss of sales revenue; and
  • plan to reopen when the public health restrictions are lifted.

Further details and applications will be available at noon on December 7.  For more information, businesses can visit www.saskatchewan.ca/covid19-businesses, call 1-800-667-6102, or email ssbep@gov.sk.ca.

The SSBEP program initially launched April 13, 2020, to provide support to small businesses that had to temporarily close or substantially curtail their operations as a result of COVID-19.  The program was extended for May 2020 and provided 6,485 businesses more than $32 million in support.


Source: Government of Saskatchewan


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