In last week's mid-year budget update, the Liberals committed to imposing a two per cent tax on stock buybacks that would go into effect in 2024 and earn the government $2.1 billion in revenues over the next five years.
Oil giant Cenovus announced third-quarter profits of $1.6 billion, 192 per cent higher than the same quarter a year ago, and delivered $659 million to shareholders through share buybacks during the quarter. The measure, however, falls short of the windfall taxes New Democrats have advocated for. Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a written statement that the buyback tax "does nothing for Canadians who need relief from high prices now.""It's not a bad political move, because I do not think it will offend many voters," said Rick Robertson, professor emeritus at Western University's Ivey School of Business.
As the federal government experiments with a different way of incentivizing investment,companies have until 2024 to figure out how to deal with the buyback tax. David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, agrees the new tax probably won't spur additional investment.To address this, Macdonald said the federal government could impose a similar tax on one-time dividends, which corporations might use as an alternative to buybacks.
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