Budget will help small businesses: Leitão

Supporting small and mediumsized businesses will be one of the main goals of Quebec’s next provincial budget, Finance Minister Carlos Leitão told the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal on Thursday.

“It’s particularly important for us to have a vibrant small-business sector. In that respect, taxation is an important obstacle, sometimes,” Leitão told reporters after a speech that was primarily focused on the government’s fall economic update.

“We will, in the next budget, continue the work we’ve already started of lightening the tax burden of small businesses, and one area that in Quebec is a little heavier than in the neighbouring provinces is payroll taxes, so that’s what we’ll be looking at for the next budget.”

However, Leitão wouldn’t comment on what, specifically, the government will do to support small businesses.

“We will look at all options. The corporate tax rate, yes, that’s one possibility. Investment in programs to promote investment, that might be another possibility. But, also, part of the options that we’ll be looking at is payroll taxes and payroll taxes are a big obstacle to job creation,” he said.

He said the government will be watching what happens in neighbouring regions as it decides what actions to take. He stressed that the goal will be to ensure that Quebec’s small businesses remain competitive.

“Small businesses constitute the major driver of our economy. Jobs are created mostly by small businesses,” he said.

He said the plan will also take current uncertainty around trade with the United States into account.