Premier Brian Pallister says he wants to make life more affordable for Manitobans.

The province is announcing a program called $2,020 Tax Rollback Guarantee. This is a series of tax cuts, set to save the average Manitoban $2,020 over the next four years.

"We believe that more tax relief, sooner, is better in the face of the realities of COVID than to delay it. We know that Manitobans work hard to find money to spend, to save, to invest so that they can support themselves so that they can support their loved ones. And so they can support their communities too."

Pallister says cuts made include:

• reducing the provincial sales tax (PST) to seven per cent from eight;
• indexing the Basic Personal Amount and Personal Income Tax brackets;
• removing the PST on property insurance;
• removing the PST on personal income tax preparation;
• eliminating probate fees;
• removing the PST on the preparation of wills;
• reducing vehicle registration fees by 30 per cent;

Later this year, the province will be:
• removing the PST on personal care services, such as haircuts and salon services; and
• reducing education property taxes.

The details will be presented next week in the new 2021 budget from the Finance Minister, Scott Fielding.

Pallister says amalgamating school divisions is allowing them to reduce education property taxes and eventually phase it out.

"We are one of the only jurisdictions in Canada that allows local rate-setting tax settings and that depends as much as we do on taxing people on their homes and properties. Phasing that out will affect approximately 658,000 Manitoba ratepayers."

Pallister says rebate cheques are coming for the property owners, residential, farm, and commercial. 

These cuts were first announced in October as a way to help Manitobans bounce back from pandemic difficulties. Pallister says since 2016, more than $700 million in tax and COVID-19 relief has been given back to Manitobans.