Politics: Nova Scotia: tax vs expenditure

Self-tutoring about politics: the tutor continues about Nova Scotia’s positive budget result for 2023-2024.

I mention in my July 29, 2024 post Nova Scotia’s surprise surplus of $144M for 2023-2024 compared with its forecast deficit of $279M. Good news, right?

A little unnervingly, one response was that perhaps the government should cut taxes (specifically the HST).

By simple accounting, a government running a deficit needs to raise taxes or cut spending. A government that expects to run a deficit, but ends up in a surplus, should be congratulated.

Nova Scotia’s $144M surplus, compared to its government expenditure ($16.4B) of the same period, is less than 1 per cent. That hardly seems enough to warrant a correction, especially given the potential for mistaken forecasting.

Source:

msn.com