What this budget means for you

Canadian families looking for sweeping personal tax cuts in Jim Flaherty's latest budget will have trouble finding them. This time around, the finance minister was true to his "stay the course" pledge and didn't offer much new tax relief. 

There are no new personal tax increases either — although employment insurance premiums will rise in 2011. With so much unchanged, the most unhappy people may be those planning cosmetic surgery.

First the tax measures:

The amount people can earn before being subject to tax rises by $62 to $10,382 a year — reflecting a federal inflation indexing formula that boosts the basic personal amount by 0.60 per cent.

Single parents with one child under the age of six will benefit by $168 a year, thanks to a change in how the Universal Child Care Benefit will be taxed.

The government will keep its freeze on EI premiums to the end of 2010 at $1.73 per $100 of insurable earnings before  allowing the premiums to rise by a maximum of 15 cents per $100 in 2011.

An extension of the employment insurance work-sharing program and the introduction of electronic income tax notices are some of the other changes individual Canadians will see as a result of Budget 2010.

The government had earlier hinted it would extend the EI work-sharing plan, which allows workers who would otherwise be laid off to work part time and access EI benefits.  Existing or recently terminated work-sharing agreements will be extended by an additional 26 weeks, to a maximum of 78 weeks, and the government said it will allow greater flexibility in the qualifying criteria for new work-share agreements.

Both changes will remain in place until March 31, 2011.

While the home renovation tax credit expired at the end of January, the government said that "unprecedented demand" for a similar initiative, the ecoENERGY retrofit program, will mean another $80 million will be pumped into it to finance up to 60,000 retrofits.

The Conservatives said they have put a total $585 million into the program.

The government also unveiled plans to allow a deceased individual's RRSP or RRIF proceeds to be transferred tax-free to the registered disability savings plans of a financially dependent infirm child or grandchild.

Starting in 2011, people who couldn't afford to contribute to a Registered Disability Savings Plan in one year will be allowed to carry forward their unused entitlements to Canada Disability Savings Grants and Canada Disability Savings Bonds for up to 10 years.

In a nod to strengthening consumer protection, the Conservatives plan to outlaw negative-option billing in the financial sector.

Financial institutions will be required to offer products and services on an opt-in basis only, where consumers have sufficient disclosure about the terms and conditions before accepting.

The government also said it will bring forward regulations to bring greater transparency to the calculation of mortgage pre-payment penalties.

With the country facing a deficit that will top $50 billion for the fiscal year that concludes at the end of March, Canadians won't get any new tax breaks in Flaherty's latest budget, but they won't see any increases either.

The minister similarly said there will be no cuts in transfers to senior citizens and children.

The Conservatives have also put aside more money for youth, including $108 million over three years in a variety of areas, including internships, support for young entrepreneurs and youth at risk.

As with almost every budget, Flaherty's latest financial plan contained a few minor surprises.

The government said it will change several pieces of legislation, including the Income Tax Act, to allow for notices of assessment to be sent electronically.

Taxpayers would have to authorize the government to make the notice available on the Canada Revenue Agency's secure websites.

Finally, some cosmetic procedures that are considered not medically necessary will no longer qualify for the medical expense tax credit.

After March 4, procedures such as liposuction, hair transplants, botulinum toxin, or Botox injections, and teeth whitening will no longer qualify for the credit.

Tax experts said there really wasn't much for the average taxpayer to celebrate this time around.

"I've been covering budgets for a long time, and this is probably about as small an effort I've seen on the household in quite some time,"  said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Tax specialist Tim Cestnick of The WaterStreet Group agreed.

"From a taxpayer's perspective, there wasn't a lot to get excited about," he told CBC News. "Not a failing grade, because they didn't raise taxes."