The biggest winners from Doug Ford’s “middle class tax cut” would actually be high earners

When you picture a person in the middle class, do you think of someone making $86,000 a year? $100,000? $1,000,000?

Yesterday, Ontario PC leader Doug Ford added to his list of campaign promises by proposing what he called a “middle class tax cut” that would “put more money in the pocket of middle class families.”

But, as with Ford’s plan to help minimum wage earners that would actually take money out of their pockets, it’s a good idea to read the fine print.

And sure enough, the biggest winners from Ford’s newly-promised tax cut would actually be people who make $85,900 or more a year – including the very wealthy.

This @TorontoStar headline is so wrong. Not blaming @robferguson1 as nothing seems wrong in article. More accurate headline would be “Ford plans tax cut for all those making over $50,000 (or so)” Largest tax cuts will go to highest incomes. https://t.co/LQzvJ3aYyF

— Toby Sanger (@toby_sanger) May 11, 2018

In Ford’s plan, if you earn $1000 more than the bottom limit ($43K), you save $20. If you earn $100K, you save $786. That sound like he’s out there for the little guy? No. And neither was Trudeau when he did it.

— Angella MacEwen (@AMacEwen) May 10, 2018

Ford’s plan would reduce the current tax rate of 9.15% on incomes between $42,960 and $85,923 to 7.32%.

This means a person earning at the lower end of the tax bracket – say, $43,960 a year – would only see $18 off their annual tax bill while those at the upper end would see a maximum of $786 taken off.

Not only that, but so would everyone who makes above the approximately $85,900 cutoff.

The cost of Ford’s tax cut?

A whopping $2.3 billion in lost revenue every year, according to the PCs’ own figures – money that could otherwise be invested in valuable programs, services, or public infrastructure.

Today, @fordnation announced another tax cut worth an estimated $2.3 billion to the treasury.

How much is $2.3B?

It’s enough to build 328 new schools for communities across Ontario.

#onpoli

— Chris Cowley (@OTFpresFEO) May 10, 2018

Ford’s tax cut adds to a growing pile of campaign promises he has yet to fully cost out – let alone explain how he’ll honour without making painful cuts to public services.

Annual cost of PC leader Doug Ford’s big-ticket promises so far:
$2.3B income tax cut for those earning $46,000+
$1.9B to end cap and-trade
$1.3B corporate tax cut
$850M tax credit for minimum wage workers
$800M cutting hydro bills
Analysis by @jchianellohttps://t.co/6qZoq7GnPw

— Mike Crawley (@CBCQueensPark) May 11, 2018

As Jean-Paul Lam, an associate professor of economics at the University of Waterloo, recently told the CBC:

“I don’t think you will see a fully costed platform because I don’t think they know where the money is going to come from.”