CTF releases New Year's Tax Changes for 2022

Albertans may be facing a little more than a hangover come on Jan. 1 – they will also see higher taxes, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s 2022 New Year’s Tax Changes report released today (December 27).

“Albertans struggling with high inflation and problems posed by the pandemic will get hit one more time in the New Year because politicians are hiking taxes,” said Kevin Lacey, Alberta Director with the CTF. “If the government of Alberta could do one thing this year it would be to end the sneaky backdoor tax grab called bracket creep.”

In its 2019 budget, the Alberta government brought in a sneaky income tax hike known as bracket creep. Bracket creep happens when governments don’t move tax brackets with inflation and inflation automatically bumps taxpayers into a higher tax bracket even though they can’t actually afford to buy more. As a member of Parliament, Jason Kenney wrote a column in the Calgary Herald referring to bracket creep as a “hidden and regressive tax grab”.

In 2022, bracket creep will cost an Alberta taxpayer between $44.50 and $141.13, depending on income. The table below shows the cost of bracket creep to Alberta taxpayers since 2020.

Income > Cost of bracket creep 2020-2022
$30,000 > $105.73
$40,000 > $105.73
$50,000 > $105.73
$60,000 > $105.73
$80,000 > $105.73
$100,000 > $105.73
$150,000 > $246.21
$200,000 > $331.89

The CTF’s report outlines other major tax changes in 2022, such as:

• Calgary approved a 3.87 per cent property tax increase; Edmonton approved 1.91 per cent increase.

• Taxpayers making $40,000 or more in 2022 will see the federal government deduct more money for EI and CPP.

• The Canada Pension Plan tax increase will cost workers and businesses an extra $333 each in 2022.

• The Employment Insurance tax increase will cost each worker an extra $63 in 2022 and businesses an extra $89.

• The increase in the federal personal basic amount will save taxpayers $89.

• The federal carbon tax will increase for the third time during the pandemic to 11 cents per litre of gasoline on April 1, 2022.

• Alcohol taxes will increase for the third time during the pandemic on April 1, 2022. Taxes already account for about half of the price of beer, 65 per cent of the price of wine and more than three quarters of the price of spirits.

“A pandemic is the worst time for politicians to raise taxes, but they’re asking struggling Albertans to pay higher income taxes, carbon taxes and even booze taxes,” said Lacey. “It’s time for the government to stop nickel and diming taxpayers and understand the pressures that working Albertans are under. Taxes should be going down, not up.”