Minority Conservative Government supports small business initiative to increase the Capital Gains Exemption.

The recent Federal Budget filed by the Harper Conservatives increased the lifetime capital gains provision from $500,000 to $750,000.

Now we just have to hope that the budget has enough popularity that the minority Harper government can get enough support from other parties to get the budget passed into law.

The Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption is important because many small business owners only retirement savings are trapped in their business. When they sell to extract the trapped cash for retirement the gains tax gets triggered.

When this amendment gets passed it will mean that the first $750,000 of capital gains will be tax free. That means an extra $250,000 to help fund retirement for a small business owner, that is a big deal.

Great Boost to Spur Succession Planning

With an estimated 2 Million Jobs At Risk Due to Lack of a Succession Planning this budget is a big win for the CFIB which lobbied hard by delivering 30,000 letters to the federal Finance Minister.

The small-business federation sent Flaherty more than 30,000 memos from its members asking for an increase. Via The Star

I was one of the people who wrote a memo and am glad I did. This is the first time I can remember, participating in a letter writing campaign that actually had an impact - that is what is great about Minority Governments in Canada - things get done that often get sidelined due to partisan politics.

Capital Cost Allowance Accelerated: Now Is The Time to Invest In Equipment

Albeit temporary, the budget proposed a temporarily increase the rate at which companies can write off capital investments. Called the capital cost allowance (CCA), the total percentage of an asset's cost that a business can deduct from earnings in a year will jump significantly and make investment in equipment more attractive.

"This will increase cash flow for the next two years and lead to increased productivity," Meyers said. "The government has responded to Canadian manufacturers and exporters." Via The Star

This will increase cash flow for small businesses that invest capital in equipment and is also good news if you are buying a business and need to update or add new equipment.

Let's Get Busy: Lobby Your Member of Parliament

Lobby your Member of Parliament and let them know how important it is that this budget get passed. They will put two and two together and realize that if they oppose this budget they will be vilified in the next election by the small business owners across Canada.