When Gerry Pond is asked how good New Brunswick’s new Small Business Investor Tax Credit is, he says it’s among the best provincial tax credit for startup investments in Canada.

The provincial government liberalized its tax credit this year to encourage more investment in young businesses, and to give a tax break to corporations investing in young companies.

“Some people say that the British Columbia credit is the best in North America, but I think ours is at least as good,” said Pond, the chairman of East Valley Ventures.

In his February budget, Finance Minister Blaine Higgs responded to years of lobbying by the startup community and announced reforms to the tax credits – which are breaks in provincial taxes to encourage New Brunswickers to invest in small businesses such as startups.

Under the new provisions, which will come into effect for the 2014 tax year, New Brunswickers investing in small businesses in the province will receive a 30% non-refundable personal income tax credit of up to $75,000 per year.  So that means someone investing $250,000 in an eligible business, will receive a $75,000 tax break, but someone investing more than that amount could still only claim $75,000 in a single year.  The credit can be carried forward seven years or back three years.

What’s interesting is the government will now let corporations as well as individuals claim the tax credit. Natacha Poirier, Manager in Tax Service at Ernst & Young in Dieppe, said this will help owners of established businesses invest in startups in a more tax-efficient manner.

To claim a tax credit before, business owners had to take money out of their business (and pay personal income tax on it) and then invest the money. Now the corporate entity can invest its cash on hand in a new venture and receive the credit.

The tax credit for corporations is worth 15 percent and applies to investments of up to $500,000 per year.

“I think it will be great for the people who don’t have the funds immediately available (in their personal accounts) but don’t want to take money out of their corporation,” said Poirier. “Now they can invest through their corporation and receive the tax credit.”

New Brunswick is leading the region in allowing high investment limits in its equity tax credit program. Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia both have ceilings of $50,000 in their programs. 

Of course, the region still needs to address the problem of tax credits only being offered to residents of the province in question. Some U.S. states, such as Arkansas and Minnesota, have devised ways for people and institutions from outside their states to receive the tax credits to encourage greater investment in the fastest growing segment of their economy. Pond dreams of the day when the Atlantic Provinces extend credits to those beyond their borders, or at the very least to residents of other provinces within the region.

“I can get a credit for investing in Arkansas but not in Nova Scotia,” said Pond. “We have to fix that.”

 This article appears in the Spring 2014 edition of Entrevestor Intelligence, which you can find here.