TWO BIG WINS FOR SMALL BUSINESS

Small business owners scored a couple of “big wins” in Thursday’s federal budget, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said.

The budget extended and expanded the tax credit on employment insurance premiums for new hires, making the temporary one-year measure available to an estimated 560,000 small businesses, effective this year.

The estimated cost to Ottawa’s coffers is $169 million in forgone tax in the current fiscal year.

Ottawa also raised the amount small business owners can claim tax free when they sell their company, starting in 2014. The measure is expected to provide $5 million in tax relief this year and $15 million next year, according to budget documents.

“Overall, we give the budget a solid B,” said Dan Kelly, the federation’s president and chief executive officer. “There’s enough in the budget to support small business optimism.” Among the measures: Companies with EI premium costs of up to $15,000 a year will now be eligible to claim up to $1,000 in tax credits on new hires. That’s up from the previous ceiling, which limited it to companies with up to $10,000 in EI premium costs.

Small business owners will be able to claim up to $800,000 in profits from the sale of a business without paying capital gains tax. The previous limit on the lifetime capital gains exemption was $750,000. As well, the new ceiling limit will be indexed to inflation.