GOVERNMENT TAX GRAB BONUS

   G&M:  Federal tax revenues from new income-sprinkling rules for small businesses could be about twice as much as Finance Department projections, states a new report from Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette.
   The stated goal of the changes is the ensure that income sprinkling – also known as income splitting – is used to compensate family members for actual contributions to a small business, as opposed to being used as a way of paying less tax.
   The report concludes that the new tax measures could be expected to bring in $356-million in 2018-19 – compared to the Finance Department projection of $190-million. The PBO says the amount will rise to $429-million by 2022-23, in contrast to the government's projection of $220-million in new revenue that year.