Banks Emerge as Election Losers on Trudeau ‘Rifle Shot’ Tax
- Prime minister has pledged to increase tax rate on the sector
- Third term presents ‘new potential headwinds,’ analyst says
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The banking industry could be among the clearest losers from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s re-election to a third term.
Trudeau last month pledged that, if re-elected, he’d increase the tax rate on bank and insurer profits over C$1 billion ($780 million) by 3 percentage points to 18%. He also announced a vaguely defined, temporary Canada Recovery Dividend to be levied on the banks because they’ve bounced back quicker than other industries. The measures would raise a combined C$10.8 billion over the next five years, according to Trudeau’s platform.