A2

Rob Moore

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Since elected, our Conservative government has continued to take significant steps to help Canadian seniors.

One of the most important initiatives that our government has established for seniors is pension income-splitting.

Any Canadian with income that qualifies for the existing Pension Income Credit can now use up to one-half of that income for reducing their taxes by designating it to their spouse or common-law partner. This change alone is estimated to have saved seniors nearly $700 million last year.

We also raised the amount of income that seniors can claim tax-free by increasing the Senior Age Credit by $1,000 in 2006 under the Tax Fairness Plan. We brought forth an additional increase of another $1,000 in 2009. This means that seniors can now keep more of their income.

We have also taken action to support older Canadians who want to continue working and saving, by raising the age limit for Registered Pension Plans and Registered Retirement Savings Plans from 69 to 71 years of age. As well, we reduced the required minimum withdrawal amount for Registered Retirement Income Funds by 25 percent, providing Canada's seniors with $200 million in tax relief.

We doubled the amount of eligible pension income that can be claimed tax-free under the Pension Income Credit, and we increased the Guaranteed Income Supplement exemption, so that low-income seniors who work can keep more of what they earn, without any reduction in benefits.

We have also taken steps to help low-income seniors by providing $400 million for the construction of housing units under the Affordable Housing Initiative.

Our government is standing up for seniors. Our initiatives for older Canadians ensure that seniors enjoy greater opportunity, prosperity, and financial freedom.

As always, I invite you to visit my website at http://www.robmooremp.com to keep up with developments in Ottawa, and I welcome your feedback and questions at moorer@parl.gc.ca.

* Rob Moore is MP for Fundy Royal. His column appears biweekly in This Week.