Canada to offer tax credits and incentives to media

OTTAWA – Canada’s federal government is stepping in to help the struggling Canadian media industry with new tax credits and incentives.

Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Wednesday that the package is worth nearly $600 million Canadian (US$453 million) over the next five years. Details of the program won’t be available until the next federal budget.

Most of the expense will be for a new tax credit for media organizations to support the labour costs of producing original news content. A temporary tax credit will also be created for subscribers to digital news media sites.

Non-profit media organizations will also be allowed to apply for charitable status. That will enable them to issue tax receipts for donations.