I think that is what you can subtitle the Conservative campaign as. Their Small Business announcement today is yet another example of positive treatment for the many as opposed to entitlements for the few.
...A Conservative government would cut the tax rate of small businesses to 11 per cent from 12 per cent over five years, Leader Stephen Harper said Wednesday
...Harper said the Tories would also help small businesses by allowing them to earn more income before they start paying the corporate income tax rate.
"A new Conservative government will raise the threshold for the small business tax rate from $300,000 to $400,000. This was the No. 1 recommendation of a recent survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
"A small business with an income of $300,000 or more pays a tax rate of 21 per cent. Below that threshold, a business pays only 12 per cent.
"By raising that threshold, businesses
paying between $300,000 and $400,000 will experience an immediate savings in their small-business tax bill. Tens of thousands of small businesses will benefit." In Montreal, New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton focused on government ethics and said his government would take power out of the hands of lobbyists and make sure key appointments are made on merit.
It has been said many times that small businesses are the engine that drives the Canadian economy so this type of move should be positive for productivity. It is also another example of levelling the tax field. Many (most?) small businesses under $400,000 are family run. Take a single proprietor business as an example. This persons revenues are taxed at the corporate rate and whatever is not reinvested is then taxe at the personal rate. Such a double taxation lowers the incentive for individual entrepreneurship.
I am not sure how many votes this will move though.
