New Brunswick is getting the biggest HST credit in the Maritimes

The Maritime provinces will soon have a uniform HST rate of 15 per cent, but a new HST credit offered by the New Brunswick government could make other Maritimers a little envious.

When New Brunswick's first HST credits are sent out to residents in October, it will become the most generous province in the region in terms of putting some sales tax dollars back in the pockets of low-income residents.

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P.E.I., meanwhile, offers the smallest credit for the lowest-income households, though its credit surpasses Nova Scotia's for households earning above a certain income threshold (about $34,000 for a family of four).

The credits are included along with GST credits paid out by the federal government. Most households receive the payments in the form of quarterly cheques.

How are the credits calculated?

If you want to put on your thinking cap, here's how the three provinces calculate their credits (if you've misplaced your thinking cap, just skip down to the table below for some comparisons):

New Brunswick:

• $300 per individual.
• $300 for a spouse.
• $100 for each child (single-parent households receive $300 for the first child).
• Reduced by two per cent of household income over $35,000.

Prince Edward Island:

• $110 per individual.
• $55 for a spouse or for one dependent (further dependents worth $0).
• Increased by 0.5 per cent of household income over $30,000 (to a maximum of $55 increase).
• Reduced by two per cent of household income over $50,000.

Nova Scotia:

• $255 per individual or couple.
• $60 for each child.
• Reduced by five per cent of household income over $30,000.

The breakdown

Here are a few examples of how the credits compare with similar households in the three provinces:

'A significant difference'

Women's Network PEI executive director Michelle MacCallum said single-parent households in the province in particular would benefit from the New Brunswick model, and she'd like the P.E.I. government to consider changing. 

"That's a significant difference," she said of the extra $535 per year offered to single parents in New Brunswick in the example above.

"I know to a lot of middle-class earners and up, $500 or so doesn't seem like much over a year, but we know from the rates of food insecurity we're seeing on P.E.I., people struggling to maintain safe, healthy, affordable housing, that $500 can mean a huge amount to a low-income family on P.E.I.

"Clearly if we're going to have the same [HST] rate, and we're looking at harmonizing and being in line with other Maritime provinces, we're looking at similar rates around the cost of living. So it would make sense at least for our province to take a look [at its HST credit] and see if it can make improvements."

N.S. offers the most rebates

Offering credits to low-income households is one way provinces can try to mitigate the effects of the HST.

Another is by offering rebates or exemptions on specific items like children's clothing and books.

Nova Scotia offers the biggest rebate package, including a rebate on all forms of energy used for household heating. New Brunswick offers no household energy rebates, while P.E.I.'s rebate applies only to home heating oil.

In response to a request from CBC News, a spokesperson for the P.E.I. finance department pointed to a number of recent tax reduction measures, including an increase in the basic personal exemption announced this spring, and a 10-per-cent increase in the value of the provincial HST credit (that increase is reflected in the figures quoted above).

"Once we achieve our goal of a balanced budget, government will look at additional ways to provide further tax relief to the Islanders who need it the most," the department said via email.

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