Seniors get education tax break in Manitoba budget

Manitoba is phasing out the education portion ofthe property tax bill for seniors.

Finance Minister Stan Struthers announced on Tuesday, hours before tabling the province's 2013 budget, that the government will fulfill a promise it made in 2011 to begin eliminatingthat part of the tax bill for seniors who are 65 and over.

A portion of that bill will be cut in 2014 and the remainder will be wiped out by 2015.

"These seniors, who paid a lot of taxes over their working careers as they raised families, I think they deserve a break," Struthers said.

The loss of revenue to the province from the cuts is roughly $50 million,he said.

The cuts, however,do notapply to education tax on farmland. Although the government had also promised that in 2011, Struthers said they cannot commit to it just yet.