For better or worse, on June 18, 2015, Alberta's newly
elected NDP provincial government released Bill 2, which immediately received First
Reading in the Legislature and passed. Even though the Bill is
still not law, it will undoubtedly pass into law soon. Bill 2
contains corporate and personal tax increases that are, quite
frankly, shocking. While "shocking" may not be a correct
description, especially since the NDP had campaigned on the
tax increases that are contained in the Bill, many Alberta tax
practitioners, like us, are still shocked that such abrupt
increases are actually going to see the light of day.
Premier Notley has recently cranked up the rhetoric surrounding
her new government's tax policies. For example, she has called
Alberta's flat tax an "unfortunate experiment". Even
the name of Bill 2 – "An Act to Restore Fairness to
Public Revenue" – is telling. It is clear that the
new provincial NDP government plans to implement its ideological
tax platform
